Obituary of Ruth M. Swing

Swing, Ruth M. age 94 of Anoka, formerly of Isanti, passed away peacefully on February 1, 2018 at Park River Estates Care Center in Coon Rapids.

Preceded in death by her husband Ben; parents John & Hannah Jacobson; children Richard Swing and Carol Colvin; grandson Jason Colvin; brothers Harold Stolt, Clint Berglof, , Glenn Berglof and sister Eleanor Swing.

She is survived by her son Jerry (Lolita) Swing; grandchildren, Jerry Jr. (Kristen) Swing, Denny Swing, William (Jeanne) Swing, Thad (Cindy) Swing, Kim (Pedro) Benitez; great-grandchildren Noelle, Spencer, Ian, Monique, Elianna, Austin, MacKenzie, Nathen, and Aryanna; great-great-grandchild Avery.

Also survived by her daughter-in-law Diane Swing and many nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

Ruth worked as a machine operator at Thermo-Serve (West Bend) for 30 years.

Funeral service 11 AM Tuesday February 6, 2018 at Zion Lutheran Church 1601 4^th Ave S. Anoka.

Visitation 1 hour prior to service at the church.

Interment Forest Hill Cemetery, Anoka

Ruth was born in a barn on the family farm on August 22, 1923.  Her mother was milking cows when she went into labor.  Ruth was wrapped in an apron to be carried into the house.

She lived with her mother until the age of 3, and then went to live with Andrew and Matilda Erickson on a farm in Isanti where she lived until she married.  As a little girl, she had her own bedroom, but preferred to sleep with Andrew and Matilda in the winter.  She was a mischievous little girl who liked to play with mud pies.  Once when she was about 5, she put Matilda’s cold cream all over her face, then hid in a closet.  The Erickson’s looked all over for her, and afraid she would get in trouble Ruth wiped all the cold cream on a beautiful dress in the closet.  They finally found her, but she did not get a spanking, they never spanked her.  She also often wandered into the woods and liked to run over to the neighbors to ride on their plow.  She had many chores on the farm including doing dishes, baking, carrying out ashes from the stove, bringing in the water and firewood, working in the garden, cleaning the chicken coop, milking the cows and feeding the calves.

Ruth liked school and didn’t mind the 2-mile walk to get to the one room schoolhouse.  She looked forward to finishing school and becoming a nurse, but had to quit school after the 9th grade.  Ben attended the same school 3 grades ahead of her.  He enjoyed dunking her pigtails in the ink well, but as soon as she saw him, she knew he was the one she would marry.  On their first date, he bought her popcorn at a drive-in movie, but she was too bashful to eat it.  Instead, she threw it under the car when he wasn’t looking.   They married in October of 1942 at an Isanti parsonage.

Ruth had their first child, Richard, while Ben was in the Army in Africa and wouldn’t see Ben again until 1945 after the war.  Ben, Ruth and Richard lived with grandpa Swing since housing was so hard to find after the war.  In October 1946, Ben came home from work and told Ruth,” I bought a house, would you like to see it?”  They moved into the house in Anoka where Ruth lived until moving to Park River Estates.

After moving, Ruth became a member of Zion Lutheran Church until her passing.  She was an excellent cook and a wonderful baker.  Her kids and the neighbor kids loved it when Ruth had a pan of fresh-made rolls waiting for them after school.  Ruth was always very proud of her family and loved when they came over, especially the little ones.   The coffee pot was always on and the house was like a revolving door.  She loved showing pictures of her family to visitors.

Ruth worked at Thermo Serve (West Bend) for 30 years.  After she and Ben retired, they spent their time traveling.  They enjoyed taking their fifth wheel camper to Texas with several of their friends in the winter.  They would also head up to Grand Marais on Lake Superior in the summers.  They also enjoyed traveling out west to visit Jerry’s family in Oregon.

Ruth also continued to sew and knit in retirement, making quilts and afghans for her grandkids and great-grand kids.  She also enjoyed shopping downtown Anoka and at the craft bazaars where she would stock her house with little gifts and presents.  She always had a little stuffed animal or throw blanket to give when special company came to visit.  Ruth enjoyed children so much she also worked at the courthouse in the daycare taking care of little children.  She also continued to travel, often with Carol to visit Jerry in Oregon or her granddaughter Kim in Las Vegas.

Her kids inherited her sense of humor and loved to tease her.  She would turn red, get a funny look on her face and have the silliest smile, all while protesting “stop, stop it now!”.  Her family loved to tell funny stories about each other while having coffee or over hot dish.  She enjoyed talking to her many friends on the phone, but you had better not call her during ‘Wheel of Fortune’ or ‘The Price is Right’.

Ruth recently had a lot of heartache in her life.  Ben passed away in 1989, her son Richard in 2012 and her daughter Carol and grandson Jason both in 2015.  But Ruth was a survivor and still found joy in spending time with her friends and family.  She especially loved when her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and a great-great granddaughter would visit.

She spent the last 2 years at Park River Estates in Coon Rapids.  She had a wonderful roommate, Joan Manus, who had lived across the street years before in Anoka.  She enjoyed the people, staff and enjoyed getting visitors while she was there.

She was loved by many and will be deeply missed.