Bessie Elaine Swanson

Bessie Elaine Swanson

Age 95

Visitation for family and friends will be held on Friday, April 7th, 4-6pm, at the West Center Chapel, 78th & W Center Road, in Omaha, NE.

Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday, April 8 at 11am, at Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church, 2650 Farnam St Omaha, NE, with a funeral luncheon and burial following at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Memorial donations in memory of Bessie will be donated to Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church (Omaha, NE) and St. Paul Lutheran Church (Davenport, IA).

To view a live broadcast of the Service, please visit www.heafeyheafey.com and click the “View Live Cast” button at the top of the home page.

Bessie Swanson, 95, passed away peacefully on April 2, 2023, in Walcott, IA, right before Palm Sunday church services.

After graduating in 1944 from Tech High School in Omaha, Bessie married Walter Swanson, Jr. in 1945 after meeting him at the roller skating rink. Bessie enjoyed many years as a homemaker and self-employed seamstress. Her favorite hobbies included sewing, crafting, baking, quilting, and serving others. She loved donating her time and talents at Kountze serving funeral luncheons with her sisters and friends and quilting on blankets that were donated to Lutheran World Relief.

Bessie blessed her family and friends with compassion and patience and was a fabulous wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was a breast cancer survivor for 48 years and was admired by many for being thankful for everything with no complaints. Bessie had the gift of making anyone in her path feel special, being a dependable cheerleader and supporter to her family and friends.

Bessie was preceded in death by her parents, Gifford and Alice Anderson; brother, Gifford Anderson; sister, Betty Bass (Wes) Bass; brothers-in-law, Edward White and George Pickinpaugh; husband, Walter Swanson Jr.; son, Walter Swanson III, and three additional children lost at birth.

She is survived by daughters, Elizabeth Pepper and Lynnette (Allen) Olson; daughter-in-law, JoEllen Swanson; grandsons: Jason Swanson, Nathan Pepper, and Alex Olson; granddaughters Julie (Chris) Vollmuth and Jordan (Eric) Drane; and 7 great-grandchildren; sisters, Alice Pickinpaugh and Darlene White.