Swanson, Thelma L. (1919-2014)

SWANSON, HAGEN, DOKKEN, CLOSE, BAKKEN, HONSEY, MCMILLAN, AARHUS, LANDE, JENSEN

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 1/9/2015 at 16:38:45

Thelma L. Swanson
(March 2, 1919 - December 18, 2014)

Thelma L. Swanson, age 95, of Lake Mills, Iowa, died on Thursday, December 18, 2014, at the Lake Mills Care Center.

Thelma Laurine (Hagen) Swanson was born near Lake Mills, Iowa, to Evan and Jane (Dokken) Hagen. She was the youngest of four girls, the next to the youngest of all twelve children, and the last survivor of all the children.

Thelma loved animals, and in her first job, she worked for a veterinarian. Throughout her life, she always had pets.

On March 28, 1937, Thelma married Earling (Earl) Swanson. They lived in Woden and Mason City, Iowa, before moving to the family homestead six miles east of Lake Mills. They farmed there until the late 1950s when they moved to Albert Lea, Minnesota, where Earl found work at Wilson’s and Thelma at Streater Industries. At retiring, they sold their home in Albert Lea, wintered in south Texas, and lived in their motor home, returning to Iowa and Minnesota for the summer months.

The last few years as her health declined, Thelma stayed year-round near McAllen, Texas, to be closer to her daughter, Bonnie. Indeed, she lived with Bonnie for a year before returning to Lake Mills to become a resident at the Lake Mills Care Center in July of 2012.

Survivors include her children, David (Joyce) Swanson, of Glenville, Minnesota; and Bonnie Close, of Mission, Texas; four grandchildren: Kathy (Danny) Bakken, Connie (Howard) Honsey, Danny (Kim) Swanson, and Lee (Maria) McMillan; along with seven great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren as well as many nieces and nephews.

Thelma was preceded in death by her parents, Even and Jane Hagen; her husband, Earl Swanson; and all eleven of her brothers and sisters: Elmer, Lloyd, John, Gilman, Clifford, Bennie, Eldon, and Leonard Hagen, Juliette Aarhus, Mabel Lande, and Mildred Jensen.

Funeral service will be held at 1:30 PM, Monday, December 22, 2014, at Sion Lutheran Church, rural Lake Mills, Iowa, with Pastor Steven Bang officiating. Visitation will begin at 12:00 noon on Monday and continue until the service time at the church. Burial will take place at Sion Lutheran Church Cemetery in rural Lake Mills, Iowa.

Copyright © 2014, Mittelstadt Funeral Home

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