Harry Swanson (Pastor Harry)

Harry Raymond Swanson was born to Raymond and Esther Swanson on March 24, 1933, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He grew up on the East side and graduated from Harding High School in 1952. Later that year he joined the Navy and served aboard the U.S.S. Hancock aircraft carrier for four years during the Korean War, with stops in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Philippines and Hawaii. He was a Helmsman, and he loved that they believed in him and trusted him at the helm, especially just being 19 years old.

After the Navy he attended the University of Minnesota, Northwestern College, and then Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Bannockburn, IL. After graduating from seminary, he married the love of his life, Louise Werth in Moline, IL. He served Evangelical Free Churches for 31 years starting out in Sumner, NE. From there they moved to Minnesota, where he pastored churches in Annandale, Estes Brook, East Chain and St. Cloud. After 24 years in Minnesota, he accepted the call to Richvale, CA. Harry loved preaching God’s Word, especially on prophecy. He also enjoyed visiting people. He made many lasting friendships at each church that he deeply cherished. From 1996-2010, he served as the Chaplain with Elim Homes in Fargo, ND and St. Paul, MN. He earned his Chaplaincy Certification through CPE while in Fargo – a very special accomplishment. Harry retired at the age of 77, though he continued to teach Sunday School for several more years.

In retirement, Harry spent many hours in his backyard where he so enjoyed his patio swing, feeding and watching the birds (and other wildlife), reading his devotions and praying. It was his sanctuary. He also enjoyed trips to the North Shore throughout his entire life and looked forward to going up there annually in his retirement.

Harry loved to travel. In the earlier years, he would take his family camping every year, traveling to different places around the US, taking in many of the National Parks. He also enjoyed many trips to Canada with his family. A favorite trip in those years was going to The PAS, in Canada. In the later years he enjoyed many memorable trips, including a trip to Venezuela with Louise, her sister and her mom in 1999, to visit another sister and brother-in-law who were missionaries there. And an all-time special trip was when his children gifted him and Louise a trip to Sweden and Norway for their 40th Wedding Anniversary. He was so thrilled to have his whole family join them. He really treasured going to Leksand, the inland of Sweden, as it was very authentic - he was 100% Swedish! His very favorite vacation memory of all vacations (despite being a Swede), was taking in the breathtaking Norwegian Fjords.

Harry had an extraordinary way with people. His friendships that he has shared with so many people have always been so meaningful to him. He genuinely wanted everyone he interacted with to know they were special, in their own way.

Family meant so much to Harry. He loved watching his childrens’ sporting events and was able to get to almost every single event for each child. He also enjoyed watching his grandchildren, when able, in his later years. He expressed his love in many ways – verbalizing and through his actions. He would often say, “I love you more than you’ll ever know!”. He would pray for them every day and always loved spending time together. His love for his family was so evident and their love for him was returned. He was the best Husband, Dad, Grandpa and PopPop. The last 8 months of his life were very hard for him. He went through so much and fought so hard to live. His family had the privilege of caring for him and he was so grateful to be in the comfort of his own home, with his family doting on him day and night.

Harry loved Jesus so deeply. He was a shining example of God’s love to us. He spent hours reading the Bible and having devotions. He would use 4 devotionals each day to read through the Bible in a year. Because of his personal relationship with Jesus Christ, in his darkest hour, he was able to talk with God and reminisce about all the blessings that had been bestowed upon him throughout the years. He was an example of a true man of God. It was extremely important to him to know for certain that he would see his family in Heaven one day. He felt the same about all his cousins and friends.

Harry left his earthly home to be with his Lord and Savior on June 25, 2025. His departure from our lives leaves a huge void for those left behind, but in his words, “God had plans for him that were much better for him.” He was so thankful for the hope of Heaven. His family holds that hope tight and looks forward to seeing him again in eternity.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Ray and Esther Swanson, his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Royal and Helen Werth, grandbaby Heckmann, his brother-in law Adam Croumer, his sister-in-law, Carol Hillis, cousins Margaret and Warren Rydell, Jeannete and Bob Thompson, and Ron Swanson.

He is survived by his loving and caring wife of 60 years, and his children who cherished him: Cindy Swanson, Stephanie (Brent) Heckmann, Shari Swanson, Jeff Swanson and Jon (Michelle Rindos) Swanson and his special grandchildren, Ryan (Kenzie) Heckmann, Aaron Heckmann, Natalia Heckmann, Annalise Swanson, Clara Swanson, Luke Swanson, Colin Swanson and great grandson, Brody Heckmann. He is also survived by his sisters-in-law, Susan Croumer and Julie (Ken Dickson) Werth, brother-in-law Alan Hills, nephews Nathan Croumer and John Croumer, several cousins who he loved dearly, and a host of friends.

Interesting Tidbits about Harry:

• He was proud to serve our country and was a proud Navy Veteran. He said sometimes it would be nerve wracking steering the ship, like when they would be side by side with another ship to get supplies – he obviously didn’t want to collide with the other ship. The Captain would be outside telling him to steer one degree or half a degree. He said half a degree was extremely difficult and that his arms would be shaking afterwards. He said steering the ship when the planes would land or take off, was much easier!
• While in the Navy, he would clean the ship’s windows every morning, which required him to go outside on a very little ledge with a rope attached to him in case he would fall.
• Another task that he really enjoyed in the Navy was going with the Navigator to study the stars and plot their positioning. The Navigator had a sextant and when he would say “NOW!”, Harry would put down that exact time. The Navigator would also read the degrees. When they were done with that, they would go down to the ship’s Chart Room where Harry would read off the name of the stars and the degrees and the Navigator would plot it on the chart. This would identify exactly where they were on the ocean. He said this was so amazing!
• He was a great baseball player and while going to Northwestern College, he was scouted by the Yankees for a short stop position (though he played several positions). He didn’t even know he was going to be scouted!
• When he accepted his call to be a Pastor, he wanted to make sure his priority was God/Faith, Family, Pastoral responsibilities. He had heard of many pastors who lost their family because of being so focused on the church and he wanted to make sure his family didn’t feel neglected.
• Harry loved to “stalk” his family (as his kids called it)! He got so much joy out of tracking where everyone was throughout the day and what they were doing. At night, he would check again to make sure everyone was home and if not, he would pray for them to make it home safe. Once he saw everyone was back home safe and sound, he felt like he could go to bed.
• He was involved in many community opportunities and liked to get to know people better. One of the things he was asked to do and he really enjoyed was running the time clock for the East Chain Basketball Games. He was also the PTA President for the Foley Elementary School and later helped initiate the PTA in East Chain.
• His favorite gift: going downstairs at Christmas when he was about 12 years old, to find the beautiful blue bicycle that his Dad bought for him from his two uncles (Wendell and Verner) who went to war. To have a bike to himself that his uncles shared and the fact it was their bike, was so special to him.
• Being 100% Swedish, Harry loved his heritage and the Swedish traditions - although he married Louise despite her being Norwegian and German! This was always a fun rivalry within the extended family.
• He loved telling Ole & Lena jokes and even participated in a talent show and dressed the part! This can be seen on YouTube still today!
• He loved to play the piano, organ and accordion. It became a tradition for Harry to play his accordion at Christmastime and a family favorite was a Swedish song. He also used to play his accordion at the nursing homes as well as his churches.
• He loved his Chocolate Milk, 1919 Root Beer, Root Beer Floats, Chic-fil-A Lemonade and McDonalds Orange Drink
• His favorite food: Lemon Pie (close second was Banana Crème)
• His “worst food”: Brussel sprouts (can I get an Amen?!)
• He loved lingonberries, lefsa, lutefisk (especially when it was made by his cousin Lynn!) and all Swedish food!
• He loved the Fall season and thoroughly enjoyed helping to pick and harvest the apples from his two apple trees (Macintosh and Haralson apples). He would carefully watch the apples grow each year and anticipate all the apples he would get. He loved homemade apple anything, but his favorite was homemade applesauce.
• At 91 years old he was playing word games online against 99 other players, almost always finishing in the top 5 and many times in the top 2-3. His memory was sharp!
• He loved to wrap gifts – inside a container, inside another container and yet another!
• His favorite color was blue – he even had a light blue suit for his wedding!
• Favorite Date with Louise: Going to ‘The Messiah’. This was his second date with Louise, and she actually asked him out (very unlike her!)!
• Favorite Memory with Louise: Going to Glacier National Park on their honeymoon.
• His word of advice to us: “Always be kind!”
• His favorite car was his ’56 Chevrolet Bel Aire that he bought when he was discharged from the Navy. It was a 4 door with yellow stripes. He saved his money while in the Navy to buy it.
• He once went to a board meeting in Nebraska and came home with a dog who he named Sport. This was not planned – at least Louise did not know ahead of time they were getting a dog. Sport loved Harry.
• He loved birds – his favorites were the Oriole because of their beauty, and the Gold Finch because of their color and how they use the cotton balls to make their nests
• He had a great big smile, he was an encourager, he was positive, and he was one of the most patient men people have known
• He had a great sense of humor even up through his last days. He wanted to see how high his hospital bed would go. When he got to the top, he said, “I’ll probably get a nosebleed being so high.” (being in the nosebleed section)
• He helped start a Christian School in Foreston, MN in 1978 that still exists today. He also helped start Champion Christian School in Chico, CA in 1992 that was open for 24 years.
• He loved Hymns! He really enjoyed reading the stories about why they were written. He would read these stories to his family when they would sing at Christmas (alongside his accordion playing) as well as to his Sunday School class. He felt these stories gave the hymns special meaning.
• His favorite Bible Verses are Matthew 6:33 because of the tremendous promise and 1 John 4:8, “…God is Love.”
• Through his medical trials the past 8 months, he would always say, “God is always faithful.” His love for the Lord never wavered.
• When he entered through the pearly gates of Heaven, Jesus stood up and welcomed him home saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

A Special Note of Thanks:

A special thank you to Dr. Joseph J. Saccoman, his Primary Care Provider and friend. Dr. Saccoman made several house calls to check in on Harry (and Louise). Harry always looked forward to seeing his “Doc Saccoman” who he trusted completely. Dr. Saccoman never gave up on Harry and Harry appreciated that so much. Harry’s family is forever grateful for the wonderful care he gave their Husband and Dad.

Memorials in Honor of Pastor Harry:

When giving in celebration of Pastor Harry’s life, the family requests donations to one of these organizations that were close to his heart:

Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC): https://www.febc.org/

PO Box 1, La Mirada, CA 90637

The Gideons International: https://www.gideons.org/

St. Paul Central Camp, P.O. Box 6611, St. Paul, MN 55106

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