Fred Alfred Swanson

SWANSON SHEETS

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 10/18/2010 at 22:00:52

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Fred Alfred Swanson
By Arlene Swanson Quinn

Fred Alfred Swanson, son of Charles and Marie Swanson, lived with his mother. Fred worked in the brick yards here in Sergeant Bluff when Mr Lamport was manager and later Mr Blagg was manager. Then in 1924 when Allen Certain took over management of the yards, Fred was put in charge of the machine shop and operated all the heavy equipment.

Fred married Hazel Sheets, a school teacher from Holly Springs , Iowa. They lived and raised their four children in Sergeant Bluff. Fred quit the yards in early 1940s because of ill health and moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where he died at the Veteran’s Hospital in October, 1958. Both are buried in the Sergeant Bluff, Iowa.

Avery Swanson, son of Fred and Hazel Swanson, graduated from Sergeant Bluff high school in 1936. HE enlisted in the Army, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and served as a technical sergeant under Eisenhower. He returned home to marry Amanda Byers of Lawton, Iowa, in 1945. They had two children. Son, John, studied oceanography and is now a diver for Global Marine. Their daughter, Dana, lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, and works for her father. She married Terry McVey in 1969 and has a son, Greg. Amanda died in 1981. Avery remarried in September 1983. He lives in Indianapolis, where he is owner-operator of a credit bureau.

Delwin Swanson, son of Fred and Mabel Swanson, attended the University of Nebraska and the University of California, Los Angeles. He served in the United States Air Corps. He has lived in California since 1945. Delwin is a Certified Public Accountant presently working for Edison Electric. He lives in Pacific Palisades, California.

Arlene Swanson, daughter of Fred and Hazel Swanson, attended Midwest Business School and Morningside College in Sioux City. She worked for The United States Navy during World War II on Treasure Island. There she met and married Lt Joseph Quinn in 1943. They have one daughter, Judy. The Quinns now live in Salinas, California, and Joe is retired. Arlene has worked as a secretary for the Salinas school system for the past fifteen years. Their daughter, Judy, married Bob Bullock in 1967.

George Darrell Swanson, youngest son of Fred and Hazel Swanson, graduated form Sergeant Bluff High School and joined the United States Coast Guard. He was at Pearl Harbor during the bombing. After the war he returned to school at the University of Nebraska and graduated in 1950. George worked for an insurance company in San Francisco, California, for several years before his death in September 1970. George is buried with his father and mother in Sergeant Bluff Cemetery.

Hazel Sheets Swanson’s parents lived in Bronson, Iowa. She had one brother, Herman, and four sisters and one half-sister, Nelle Wyman who lived in Letcher, South Dakota. Ethel Sheets was a practical nurse. Kate moved to California, near San Francisco; and Lillus, the youngest, is the only one still living. Hazel’s mother’s name is believed to be Pearson, the first name might have been Mary. Hazel’s sister, Bertha, married and lived in Bronson. Mrs Schumacher, mother of Alice Schumacher Brown.