If Col. Walbrook Davis Swank wanted to know about something, he'd research his subject until he found out everything about it, said a stepson, Pembroke Robert Pettit of Fredericks Hall.

He loved history, especially Southern history. That his mother was a second cousin of Confederate States of America President Jefferson Davis intrigued him, and he most often wrote about the Civil War.

The 97-year-old retired Air Force executive first filed his research in a briefcase in the back of his car. He was a prolific writer of Civil War stories and wrote or edited 17 books on the war before he died Sunday in a Henrico County hospital.

The first book, written when he was 70, was "Clash of Sabers -- Blue and Gray."

His 23rd and last-published book was the historical novel, "Grant Captured," which came out this year. He will be buried with a copy of that book after a funeral on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation in Mineral, near his "Walbrook" farm home at Fredericks Hall. Burial will be in Bethpage Christian Church Cemetery in Fredericks Hall.

"He was very thorough. He was good with people. His mind was young and it was clear," Pettit said. "Forty-five minutes before he died, Wally was indicating to me he wanted his last manuscript finished."

Most of his writings were about people, Pettit said, such as "Eyewitness to War in Virginia, 1861-1865: The Civil War Diary of John William Peyton."

He was so well-known in his Louisa community that people went into their attics and entrusted him with precious Civil War-era family letters and diaries that he could edit for his book "Letters and Diaries," Pettit said.

One year before the 125th anniversary of the Civil War Battle of Trevilian Station, Col. Swank decided to write a book about the battle, the war's greatest and bloodiest all-cavalry conflict. It was ready a month before the re-enactment took place in 1994.

Col. Swank, cited by many historical groups for his promotion of Southern history and heritage, spearheaded the preservation of the Trevilian Station Battlefield. In 2005, at age 95, he spoke at the rededication of the Louisa County Confederate Monument.

A Harrisonburg native, he earned his bachelor's degree at Ohio State University and his master of military science degree during his 32-year Air Force stint, spent mostly in personnel. He later served 17 years as a federal employee with the Air Force.

He was the widower of Jane Orr Swank and Nellie Mae Stewart Pettit Swank.

Survivors, in addition to his stepson, include his wife of 10 years, Frances Byrd Powell Keller Gordon Swank; another stepson, Robert R. Keller of Louisa; and three stepgrandchildren and two stepgreat-grandchildren.