Top Banner for MaryAnn Swanson Obituary
MaryAnn Swanson Obituary

Brought to you by Starkson Family Life Celebration Chapel

MaryAnn Swanson

Hastings, MN

May 16, 1932 - January 22, 2021

MaryAnn Swanson Obituary

MaryAnn Swanson, 88, died on January 22, 2021, at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. MaryAnn was born on May 16, 1932, in Waseca, Minnesota, the youngest child of Albert and Elsa Dietrich. She graduated from Waseca High School, and earned a teaching degree from Mankato Teachers College (now Minnesota State University). She taught elementary students in Westbrook, Henderson, and Fairfax, Minnesota, in the 1950s, and in Hastings, Minnesota from the 1970s until her retirement in 1991. She was also a homemaker. When at Westbrook, she met and dated a fellow teacher, band director David Swanson of St. James, Minnesota. They were married on June 27, 1954 in Waseca, and were together in Henderson, Fairfax, Canby, and Hastings until David’s passing in 2001. MaryAnn was a devout Lutheran, and loved attending services at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Hastings. She was a long-time member of the church’s Naomi Circle, and served as its secretary-treasurer for many years. She enjoyed many aspects of life: watching birds come to feeders in her back yard; gardening in the same back yard; watching and talking about the Minnesota Twins; traveling to the North Shore and Grand Marais annually; taking a special trip to Hawaii with daughter and best friend Kathy; attending musicals at Chanhassen and the Guthrie and choir concerts at Gustavus Adolphus College and Hamline University; completing crossword puzzles daily; and watching As the World Turns and Law and Order, among other television shows. Mom was well known among extended family members and friends for her perfect Palmer handwriting and her perfect frosting on Christmas cookies baked by Dad (and later by she and Kathy). And her daughter and some grandchildren have all been inspired to make that cookie recipe and to attempt the precision of Mom’s frosting. MaryAnn was a huge fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books and influenced her children to read them. She was proud of her German heritage. And she loved spending time with her children, grandchildren, extended family members, and her neighbors and friends. MaryAnn was preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Dorothy Nichtern; and her brothers, Werner and George Dietrich. She is survived by three children, Michael (Jane Holahan), Peter (Mary), and Kathryn Swanson; six grandchildren, Tim Swanson, Sam Swanson, Kate McDermott, Kevin McDermott Swanson, Tessa McDermott Swanson, and Alexander Arend (Ashlyn); one great-grandchild, Gavin McDermott; sister-in-law, Esther Dietrich; and nieces, nephews, and cousins. A private family service will be held on Monday, January 25, at 11 a.m. Central time at the Starkson Family Life Celebration Center in Hastings. The service can be viewed live on the Starkson Family’s Facebook page. After the service, the recording will be available at the Starkson website (MaryAnn's tribute wall), www.HastingsMNfuneral.com, as will a video of photos of MaryAnn, her family and friends. Memorials are preferred in lieu of flowers.

To share a memory or send a condolence gift, please visit the Official Obituary of MaryAnn Swanson hosted by Starkson Family Life Celebration Chapel.

Events

Event information can be found on the Official Obituary of MaryAnn Swanson.