Doris Adell Swanson

Ms. Doris Swanson; longtime piano teacher and organist at the First Lutheran Church of Rush City; died Thursday at her home in Rush City at the age of 90 years. Doris Adell Swanson was born in Rush City, MN on July 8, 1920 to Herman and Olga Swanson. When she was three months old she moved with her parents and brother, Lloyd, to San Diego, CA where the family lived for the next several years while her father was employed in the automobile business. They moved to the Tacoma, WA area where Doris and Lloyd graduated from high school before returning to Rush City in 1937 where Herman farmed. After high school graduation at age 17, Doris completed one additional year of education because she was too young to be employed. Her father died suddenly from heart failure during this time and Doris began her career as receptionist for one of the local doctors then joining the Land O’ Lakes Creamery in Rush City, processing milk checks for the farmers. She then took a job as teller with the First State Bank of Rush City, where she remained for over forty years, retiring as assistant cashier. Her love of the pipe organ began in childhood when her parents took her to Balboa Park in San Diego on Sunday afternoons and she heard the organ. She began piano lessons in young adulthood and moved on to lessons on the pipe organ, studying with Marion Hutchinson in Minneapolis. She continued taking organ lessons with Mary Kay O’Neill of Cambridge until shortly before her death. During her career, she offered piano lessons to many young children and some adults in the Rush City area. Her greatest joy was to serve as organist at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rush City. Her life was her family and her church. When her father died so suddenly, Doris began to work to help support her mother, a practice she continued for her entire life. Her great grandparents were charter members of First Evangelical Lutheran Church and she remained faithful to their heritage, proud of the stained glass window that bears their name. She was active in the women’s organization at church, serving as president and Bible Study leader for many years. She loved to garden and her yard shows her dedication. Every summer she canned and froze the bountiful produce her garden produced and many friends and family have enjoyed her jams, jellies, and other treats. In May she was diagnosed with cancer to which she succumbed September 2, 2010. Doris was a very private person who maintained her personal dignity to her last breath. She was well cared for in these last days by loving family and friends. When she learned of her diagnosis, she told the doctor that she intended to live every day and enjoy her time with those she loved. She did this well, sharing with each an unflagging spirit and belief that her Lord was with her. Her parents, Herman and Olga Finne Swanson, along with her brother, Lloyd, preceded her in death. She is survived by her cousin, Clifford (Barbara) Finnie of Gold Hill, Oregon, Judy (Gilbert) Ortega of Hayward, California and Geraldine Davis of Solana Beach, California. Rev. Laurie O’Shea will officiate at funeral services at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Rush City, on Sunday, September 5, 2010 at 2:00pm with a time of visitation and reviewal one hour prior. Music will be provided by Rev. Beverly Robinson and Mary Kay O’Neill. The interment will be in the First Lutheran Cemetery of Rush City, MN.. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Rush City. “Well-done good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:23)