John Carl Swanson

Ocheyedan, IA

     John Swanson, age 89 of Ocheyedan, Iowa died Wednesday, January 11, 2023, at Sibley Specialty Care in Sibley.

     A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM, Friday, May 5, 2023 at Jurrens Funeral Home-Andringa Chapel in Ocheyedan.  Burial will follow in the Ocheyedan Township Cemetery.

     John Carl Swanson was born July 24, 1933, to Clarence and Elfrieda (Jaeger) Swanson, at home, on a farm near Moneta, IA. He attended school in Moneta, and a rural school near Sutherland, IA. He graduated from Gaza High School in 1952. John was drafted January 12, 1953, to serve in the army during the Korean conflict. He served until December 1954 when the Korean conflict ended. John was injured in the Korean conflict and received a Purple Heart and a Honorable discharge for his service.

     John returned home and married the love of his life, Mary Joan Jager on August 21, 1955. They lived on a farm near Paullina, IA. John worked as a farm hand for a while, then decided to pursue other interests using the GI Bill. He went to work for the Paullina Times Newspaper and learned the printing trade. In 1964 John and his wife Mary decided to buy the Alta Advertiser newspaper in Alta, IA, and the Schaller Herald newspaper in Schaller, IA. John moved his family to Alta, IA. John sold advertising and printed two newspapers weekly. He worked
hard and long hours. John and Mary both wrote columns for the newspapers and were very involved with the community and their children.

     In 1969 John sold the newspapers and took a job with the Decorah Newspapers in Decorah, IA as Advertising Manager. John moved his family to Decorah, IA where he made many friends and also became quite involved with fundraisers for the community and Luther College. In 1977 John was offered a job in Sheldon, IA at the newspaper, back in Northwest, IA. John and Mary decided to make the move to be closer to relatives. After working in Sheldon for a year, John decided it was time to make a change, so he took a job with Sather Candy Company out of Round Lake, MN. John and Mary made one last move to Ocheyedan, IA and John drove to Round Lake, MN for work. John was one of Sather's top salespeople. He
did a lot of selling for them on the phone, computer, and traveled around the country. He received many awards for being one of the top salesmen for the company. John worked for Sathers for 22 years, retiring at 67.

     After retirement, John was a hard man to slow down, so he took a job with the Ocheyedan lumberyard and worked there until he was 75. He did other small jobs around the community.

     John was always involved with his church wherever he lived. He loved to go fishing and enjoyed working out in the yard. John and Mary always had a big garden wherever they lived. He loved to dance, laugh, and tell jokes. John loved his children and grandchildren and loved to sit and talk and joke with all of them.

     He is preceded in death by his wife Mary Swanson, Sept 15, 2021, sister Lois and brother-in-law John Redshaw, brother Floyd Swanson, infant son Eric Swanson and son-in-law Randy Solem.

     John is survived by his four children Linda Solem, Decorah, Iowa, Rick (Lisa) Swanson Jacksonville, Florida, Lisa (Larry) McGee Norwich,CT and Kristin (Bill) Walmsley of Ocheyedan, Iowa. Nine grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren, and sister in-law Martha Swanson.

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