Gwendolyn Kathleen Swanson

Gwen Swanson, 34, of Portland, OR, died July 12, 2012 after a short battle with an aggressive cancer, surrounded by family and friends. Born Dec. 3, 1977 in Hibbing, MN to Bill and Grace Swanson. Graduated Hibbing H.S. 1996; Faith Baptist Bible College A.A. Ankeny, IA 1998; Grandview College B.A. in Journalism Des Moines, IA 2000; and was working on an MBA at Marylhurst University, Marylhurst, OR. Worked as a reporter for Hibbing Tribune, a delivery ninja for Domino's Pizza, a daycare teacher at ChildRoots of Portland, and a host at the Japanese Garden. She was a board member of Rahab's Sisters, Portland, and active in Mosaic Church. She was curious about all sorts of things. She loved reading about science, ideas, other countries and societies, she loved talking about the Bible and about God. One thing that would have had her over the moon would have been to get to meet Neil Degrassi Tyson. She loved fascinating new stories, weird new art and old art, and wild juxtapositions of color. She would take old VCRs apart to look at the innards. She loved animals. Except spiders, and even then she bore them no ill will, she just didn't want them crawling on her. She loved the rats she brought home, and named them Cosmo and Frank, and nursed them wonderfully as they got older. She was alive to living things. I must also mention her love for C.S. Lewis! She loved art. She loved music. She loved making music. She loved watching the grace of the dancers on the competition shows. She loved beauty. She was a happy four-star geek. She was a Trekkie. She would speak deeply and insightfully about the relationships among the X-Men. She will be deeply missed. Gwen is preceded in death by infant siblings Jeremiah and Jennifer and grandparents Oscar and Frances Swanson and Joe and Joyce Ranger. Survived by parents Bill and Grace and fiance Alex Russell and many aunts, uncles, and cousins. Memorial services were held at Mosaic Church, Portland, OR and First Baptist Church, Hibbing, MN. Final resting place is Rose City Cemetery, Portland.

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