Thelma Ann Swenson

Thelma Ann Swenson of Coon Rapids, passed away on Wednesday, May 7, 2014 at the age of 89 at the Park River estates in Coon Rapids. The daughter of Hazel (Hagen) & Michael Clark, Thelma grew up in Frazee, MN and graduated from Frazee High School. She moved to Minneapolis during WWII while she waited for her husband, Emil Swenson to return from battle in the Pacific. After the war they moved to Coon Rapids where they raised 4 children. She worked as a wedding coordinator at Peace Lutheran Church in Coon Rapids, a receptionist/dispatcher at Swenko Research & Development, Inc. and as a secretary at the Grain Exchange. Finally, she was employed many years by Xerox where she worked until she was 82. Never one to reveal her age, she delighted in telling co-workers she was closer to 60 than she was to 50, when indeed at the time she was 75. She never looked her age and always got away with it. Thelma loved a good laugh, found humor in most everything & she loved getting together with family & friends. At age 84 she suffered a debilitating stroke and has resided at a senior care center since. She is survived by her children: Roger Swenson and his wife Sharon of Chicago, IL, Gerald Swenson and Susie O'Brien of Brooklyn Park, Nancy O'Donnell of Coon Rapids and Robert Swenson(Donna Babekuhl) of Isanti; brother Rodney Newling and his wife Caren of Garrison, MN; 9 grandchildren; numerous great grandchildren; special friend Monty Dehn of Brooklyn Center and many other relatives & friends. Thelma is preceded in death by her parents Michael & Hazel (Hagen) Clark, husband Emil, sister JoAnn Berget and brother Willard Newling. Rev. Val Brown-Greenly will officiate a funeral service; 6:30 p.m. Friday (5/16/14) with a time of visitation and reviewal one hour prior at the Peace Lutheran Church; 20 Northdale Blvd. N.W. Coon Rapids, MN. The interment in the Morningside Memorial Gardens in Coon Rapids will take place at a later date. Funeral arrangements for Thelma Swenson are entrusted to the: Funeral and Cremation Service of Rush City, Olson Chapel. www.funeralandcremationservice.com