09/22/2026
It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our good friend Woody Swain. He was currently an active member of the Vermont Arts Exchange Board of Directors and served for several years. He always had creative ideas to contribute to our many projects. In 2019, Woody designed the VAE 25th anniversary logo, one of many throughout his career in advertising. Following is his obituary sent this morning by his dear wife Gregg. Our thoughts are with her and the family.
09/21/26
Herbert W. Swain, Jr., an award-winning art director, known by everyone as Woody, died on September 21st at his home in Manhattan after a battle with glioblastoma. He was 80.
Among other senior creative positions held during a 30-year career on Madison Avenue, Woody Swain was a Senior Vice President/Creative Director at the global advertising agency Young & Rubicam. Mr. Swain created print and television ads for major national brands that included AT&T, Advil, Citibank, Colgate-Palmolive, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Post Office, and the United Negro College Fund.
He created the illustration still used decades later as Colgate-Palmolive’s worldwide oral care logo (a tube of Colgate toothpaste, squirting out a broad smile). His ads for U.S. Postal Service stamps included dinosaurs descending on a town. Woody Swain co-created one of the most successful and memorable public service commercials ever produced for the Ad Council on behalf of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), widely known for the iconic slogan, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”
Mr. Swain previously worked for advertising agencies Lowe Marshall, Inc., Scali, McCabe and Sloves, and Combe, Inc.
With his wife Gregg Swain, he illustrated, designed and was Art Director for two definitive books on Mah Jongg, “Mah Jongg: The Art of The Game” and “American Mah Jongg For Everyone: The Complete Beginner’s Guide”.
Woody Swain also served as a Board Member of The Seamen’s Church Institute, for the Bronx Charter School for Better Learning, and for the Vermont Arts Exchange, Inc. As a man of strong faith, he served on the Vestry of the Church Of The Epiphany, in New York City.
He was a longtime member of New York City’s The Century Association, and the New York Athletic Club.
Woody Swain grew up in Plainfield, NJ, the son of Herbert W. Swain and Laura Lupton (“Lolly”) Swain. He attended Kent School, in Kent CT, graduated from Colgate University, in Hamilton, NY, and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ad Design from the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California.
Among his wide range of interests were the doomed ocean liner RMS Titanic, Alfred Hitchcock movies, Walt Disney, and a wide range of cartoonists and illustrators.
He will be remembered for his creativity, his curiosity, his sense of humor, and the illustrations and cartoons he regularly drew for friends and family.
Woody Swain is survived by his wife of 42 years, Marjorie Gregg Deane Swain, by their son, Edward Wyatt (“Ned”) Swain, his wife Eliza, of Rye, NY, and their children, Grace and Teddy.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in honor of Woody Swain to one of the following:
· The Woody Swain Fund for the Arts at Kent School, c/o Bill Kissick, Kent School, Kent CT 06757, or
· The Swain Lounge, at the West Side YMCA, 5 West 63rd Street, New York NY. 10023
The funeral service will be held at Church of the Epiphany, 351 East 74th St between 2nd and 1st Avenues on Tuesday, September 29th at 3:00. A reception will be held following the service.
