Stephen Olney Swanson

Swanson, Stephen Olney Stephen Olney Swanson was born on August 31, 1932, in Minneapolis, MN, to C.R. (Cully) and Dorothy Swanson. He died in Northfield, MN, on August 23, 2015. He lived in or near where his father worked-Northfield, Saint Louis Park, Hopkins, MN; Iowa City, IA; Pensacola, FL; Minneapolis and then back to Northfield. He married Judith Seleen in 1956. Together, with their children Scott, Shelley, Noel and Brian, they lived, studied and worked in Saint Paul, Lake Wilson and Northfield, MN; Sioux Falls, SD; Eugene, OR; Seguin, TX; Camrose, Alberta; and Wynyard, Saskatchewan. Steve built a huge personal library and earned four academic degrees: Saint Olaf `54; Luther Theological Seminary `58; University of Oregon `69 (Master's and Doctorate). He will be remembered variously and pleas-antly as an electrician, plumber, welder (certified), recycler; advisor, counselor, friend, advocate, mentor; roofer, boatwright, carpenter, sculptor, author (26 books), pastor (45 churches), athlete, coach (hockey, volleyball, soccer, wrestling, football), poet (prolific); fisherman (Gulf of Mexico; Johnson, Smith, Pigeon, Mille Lacs and Siebert Lakes; Umpqua River), professor (theol-ogy, literature and writing at five Lutheran colleges and the Univer-sity of Oregon), and mechanic (both foreign and domestic cars, including Thames, Lloyd, Singer, Prefect, Fiat, Citroen, Hillman, Vauxhall and Peugeot) plus collector of tractors, trailers, vehicles for every conceivable job: fire truck, coal truck, log splitters, snow blowers, wood chippers, lawn mowers, motorcycles, ETC. While Steve was passionate about many things, he was most interested in people-all kinds of people-and he looked for good qualities in them all. A service is scheduled for 11 AM on 8/31/15 (Steve's 83rd birthday) at St. John's Lutheran Church in Northfield, with visitation from 10-11. The family suggests memorials to St. John's or the Carl R. (Cully) and Dorothy O. Swanson Memorial Endowed Scholarship at Saint Olaf College. northfieldfuneral.com

Published on August 30, 2015