Lois Swanson

Lois Lucille (Berglund) Swanson, 93 of Stratford, IA died on October 2, 2015 in Webster City. Lois was born July 27, 1922 at home in Stratford, IA to Olof E. and Iva (Iles) Berglund. She was a lifelong resident of the Stratford area and a graduate from the Stratford Community School. Lois was received as a child of God through the sacrament of holy baptism at the First Baptist Church in Stratford when she was 13-years-old. On August 26, 1942, Lois was married to Donald (Swede) Herbert Swanson. In 1948 they bought their farm next to the historic Vegors Cemetery. They had three children, Linda (George) Sturtz-Pickup, Clayton (Pam) Swanson, and Marsha (Mike) Headley, 10 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews. Throughout her life she held a variety of jobs. She worked at Barquist Dairy, Cleveland Dairy, Harrison Bakery, Bergman Grocery, and Neil Sturtz Grocery. She also did housework in several homes and farmed with her family. Lois loved fishing, gardening, working crosswords and cryptograms, and meeting with her friends for coffee. She used to accompany her dad on the piano while he played the violin. She was a photography enthusiast. She loved her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Lois was a member of Stratford Lutheran Church, where she was a Sunday school teacher, sang in the choir, was an LCW officer, and helped with quilts at church. She was preceded in death by her mother Iva (Iles) Berglund, her father Olof Berglund, her stepmother Dorothy (Knuth) Berglund, her brothers Berkely, Leo, Marvin and Norris; and her sister Virginia Orwig; her husband Donald (Swede) Swanson, and granddaughter, Jenny Louise Swanson. She is survived by her brother, Philip (Lila) Berglund, sisters-in-law, Sue (Marvin) Berglund and Doris (Howard) Bergman, her three children; 9 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren. Visitation will be held on Friday, October 9th from 4:30 PM to 7 PM at the Stratford Lutheran Church. Burial will be at Vegors Cemetery Saturday, October 10th at 10 AM. Services will be held at the Stratford Lutheran Church on Saturday, October 10 at 2 PM. Following the services friends and family are invited to greet the family and share a lunch in the church community room. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Stratford Lutheran Church.