The Artist. 

Dusti Bongé (1903-1993), nee Eunice Lyle Swetman, was a native of Biloxi, Mississippi. On August 9, 1903, Dusti Bongé was born at 1030 Howard Ave in Biloxi, MS. The third child of Orcenith George Swetman and Eunice Lyle Swetman, she was given her mother’s Christian names, Eunice Lyle. She had an older sister, Kathryn, and an older brother George. 

When Dusti was still quite young, the family moved to a large house on the waterfront at 1516 West Beach Boulevard. She lived here until she went to college in 1919. Years later, when she was tending to her elderly father, she moved in right next to her childhood home again. 

Biloxi was (and still is) a bustling town on the Mississippi Gulf Coast with both a very active seafood, as well as leisurely tourist industry. This combination made for a socially layered, ethnically diverse town with seafood factories, canneries, and harbors along Back Bay on the one hand, and mansions, hotels, and marinas along Front Beach on the other hand. This rich, stimulating cultural scene, in addition to the natural beauty of the region were a perfect backdrop for any creative and intellectually curious child to grow up.