Helen W. Swanson

      Helen W. (Holle) Swanson, 95 of Dannebrog died Friday, July 3, 2020, at Brookefield Park in St. Paul.

     Services will be at 10:30 Saturday at First Baptist Church in Dannebrog.  The Revs. Rob Pearson and Donnie Halbgewachs will officiate.  Interment will be in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Dannebrog.

Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the church.  Memorials are suggested to the First Baptist Church or New Hope Christian School.

Jacobsen-Greenway-Dietz Funeral Home in St Paul is in charge of arrangements.

                Mrs. Swanson was born June 3, 1925, at the farm outside Grove City, Minnesota, to Christian and Eleanor (Day Callaway) Holle.

                Helen graduated from Grove City High School in 1946.  She graduated from Bethel College and Bethel Seminary in St Paul, Minnesota.  She played the clarinet in Bethel’s Concert Band.  She was very involved in Bethel’s Children’s Ministries; as a member of the group God’s Invasion Army, she traveled in the United States and across Saskatchewan, Canada helping them put on Vacation Bible Schools.

                Helen met the love of her life while working at Mounds Midway Hospital.  Over 68 years ago Ted Swanson and Helen Holle were united in marriage on December 14, 1951 on a cold snowy night in Grove City, Minnesota.

                Helen was a member of the First Baptist Church in Dannebrog, where she taught Sunday School and VBS for some years.  She worked as an aide at the Howard County Hospital in St. Paul for 17 years.  She was a seamstress, tailoring suits and sewing wedding dresses; she won the “Make It With Wool Contest in Nebraska.  Helen was a weaver, winning “Best in Show” with one of her rugs at the Nebraska State Fair.  She had a large garden, canning and freezing everything, she could; she loved flowers and opened her home to anyone.  But above all else, she loved her family and the Lord, her Savior!  It is fitting to note that Helen lived a life of gratitude to God for His “grace that none can measure”.

                Survivors include her children and their spouses Trish Swanson of Tampa, Florida, Cindy and Greg Bodin of Maple Grove, Minnesota, John and Sarah Swanson of Dannebrog, Nebraska and Doug and Karen of Aurora, Nebraska.

14 grandchildren and their spouses:  Karl and Julia Bodin, Jonathan and Joelle Bodin, Katelyn and Dustin Dietrich, Heather and Will Waterbury, Kristie and Josh Nix, Ted and Katie Swanson, Lindsay and Bill Griepenstroh, Mike and Shelby Swanson, Luke Swanson, Braden and Deanna Swanson, Andrew Swanson, Tori Swanson, Matthew Swanson, and Trevor Swanson,

15 great-grandchildren:  Theodore, Madelyn, and Evelyn Bodin, Ezekiel Bodin, Miles Dietrich, Olive Waterbury (October, 2020), Sloane, Oakley, and Griffin Swanson, Scarlett, Sawyer, and Alexi Swanson, Judah, Olivia, and

Owen Griepenstroh, one sister JoAnn Holle of Litchfield, Minnesota, and  sisters-in-law  Gerri Swanson of St. Paul and Carol Swanson of Yankton, South Dakota, and numerous nieces and nephews.

                Helen was preceded in death by her parents Christian and Eleanor Holle; husband Ted; three sisters

Betty Shelp, Margaret Nelson, and Carol Paulson and two brothers Raymond Callaway and Doug Holle.

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