Bill was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, where he was a member of the Dayton Boys Choir, the National Cash Register Band, and winner of the Young Musicians Competition for which he performed as a trombone soloist with the Dayton Philharmonic Young Peoples Concert in 1952.

Bill earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and went on to earn a Masters of Education at Miami University. He also attended the University of Dayton and the University of Indiana.

Bill came to Finneytown schools to develop the music program from scratch, beginning at Finneytown Elementary School (now Whitaker) in 1956. He started the instrumental program and choruses, extended them into the high school, and completed a full music program with the addition of the strings program.

This pioneer headed the music department throughout his career at Finneytown, and was honored when the Board of Education announced that it would name the new performing arts center, The William R. Swartzel Performing Arts Center. Beyond Finneytown, Bill was district conference chairman, president, and secretary of District 12 Ohio Music Educators Association (OMEA), and Instrumental Chair for the OMEA State Conference.