John (Jack) Swaner
1898-1981. Dairy owner-operator (1922-57), Iowa legislator (1941-46), delivered daily door-to-door in Iowa City that transitioned the horse-drawn wagon to motorized vehicle eras. A rural Johnson County native, he began home delivery in 1922 of self-produced milk, butter and eventually ice cream. He purchased Queen Dairy farm during 1924 to become Swaner Farms, later Home Town (1948) and now Robert’s Dairy. He built the original Dodge Street plant in 1932. After son, Jim, began operating that business, including a downtown retail outlet, the senior Swaner concentrated on his second major local impact: Development of the River Heights neighborhood in north Iowa City.