Emeroy A. Swanson

Emeroy Anders "Em" Swanson, 89, of Bismarck, North Dakota, passed away on October 4, 2013, at his home in Touchmark in the care of loving friends and family. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 12, at First Lutheran Church with Pastor Allen Wagner officiating. Please join Em's family at Bismarck Municipal Country Club, 930 N. Griffin St., Bismarck, from 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. to share memories. Military graveside services will be held at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery in Mandan, North Dakota, at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, October 14, 2013. Visitation will be Friday from 5:00 – 9:00 PM at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck, and will continue on Saturday one hour prior to the service at the church. Em was born November 6, 1923, at St. Peter, Minnesota, to Reverend A. M. and Inga Lofgren Swanson. He was educated in McIntosh, Minnesota, and Sheyenne, North Dakota, where he graduated from high school. After his first year of college in Wahoo, Nebraska, he enlisted in the United States Air Force at Camp Dodge, Iowa, on December 7, 1942, and became a Flight Officer serving as a navigator on a B-17. He served overseas in England with the 457th Bomb Group of the United States 8th Air Force, his missions including bombing raids and transporting prisoners of war out of Germany at the end of the war. He was honorably discharged January 21, 1945, at Lowry Field Air Base in Denver, Colorado. Em attended college at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and graduated from Jamestown College in Jamestown, North Dakota, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree before earning a Master's Degree in Education at the University of North Dakota. He taught at Garrison, North Dakota, for five years before joining the teaching faculty at Bismarck High School. After six years as a classroom teacher, Em served as assistant principal for seven years. Em proudly served as principal of Bismarck High School for 18 years until his retirement in 1984. His dedication to his students was a motivational factor in his membership in a variety of professional organizations, including North Dakota School Administrators. After his retirement from public education, Em continued to contribute to his community by serving two terms on the Bismarck City Commission from 1984 until 1992. Em was a devout member of First Lutheran Church in Bismarck attending Sunday services right up to his final days. He was a member of the Bismarck Lions Club and served as the first president of the Lions Eye Bank of North Dakota. He was also a member of the Bismarck-Mandan Elks Lodge, Three Crowns Swedish American Association, the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. In 1948, Em married Agnes Swanson of Washburn, North Dakota. They had three children, Stephen, Rebecca and Mark. Agnes died in 1974, and Em later married Ardys Munson, adding her son Mark to his family. Em is survived by his daughter, Becky Greg Gehrke of Phoenix, Arizona; his sons, Stephen Sally Hoffmann of Minot, North Dakota, and Mark Pam Hopkins of Tucson, Arizona; his step-son, Mark Jean Munson of Centreville, Virginia; his eight grandchildren, Jaeson Lisa, Ileah, Kelly Bob, Jay, Kathryn, Mark, Jr., James, and Matthew; five great-grandchildren, Karsten, Keira, Avery, Ellie, and Parker; his brother, Paul Marilynn Swanson of Bismarck and the families of his three children; and his sisters, Mary Ann Doug Wessell of La Quinta, California, and the families of her two children, and Jean C.W Faucett of Bakersfield, California, and the families of her four children. Em was a man of great charm and goodwill, a true gentleman. He cherished his friends and had many people in his life who cared deeply for him. The final years of his life were enriched by the people closest to him; his children, his brother and sister-in-law, his friends who visited him and made sure he still attended the Thursday Morning Coffee Bunch and Bismarck High School football and Basketball games, and the people who made sure he was safe and healthy in his home. His family will always be grateful for all those caring and professional staff members of Touchmark who created a genuine home for Em for the last two years of his life. He loved the Missouri River and enjoyed living on the prairie participating in all the activities that North Dakota offered. He was always ready for a drive to explore the farms, ranches and wilderness areas of the North Dakota prairie as he shared stories of his life and the people he held close. He especially delighted in visiting the Washburn Swansons and seeing all of their farming in process. Em loved all the activities North Dakota offered: it's wonderful people, hunting, boating, fishing, golfing, and especially cheering on the Bismarck High School Demons. The family asks that memorials for Em be made to First Lutheran Church of Bismarck, North Dakota, or to the Birka Lutheran Church in McLean County, North Dakota.

Emeroy A. Swanson

November 6, 1923 - October 4, 2013