Lois Jean Swift

She was born March 6, 1927, in Dowagiac, Michigan, to Floyd and Diana Wardwell. She grew up with her sisters, Ruth and Helen, in Leonidas and worked part time at the Abbots Magic Shop in Colon. She graduated Bronson Methodist Hospital School of Nursing in September of 1948, her first job paying $50 for a 6-day work week. Her career in nursing would span five decades and resulted in her funding two nursing school endowments in her family’s names.

She married Galen Swift, son of Ivan and Ina Stewart Swift of Bronson, Michigan in 1948. Lois and Galen lived in Bronson, Coldwater, owned the Sturgis Motor Court in Sturgis, and the Briar Hill Motel in Traverse City. They moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1967 and also lived in Cedar Crest and Navajo Dam, New Mexico. Lois would later live in Socorro, New Mexico, Kissimmee, Florida and Manistee. She spent her last days in the excellent care of her friends at Regency Village, Visiting Angels, and the Faith Community Hospice of Webster, Texas.

Lois worked at the Coldwater State Home, Munson Regional Medical Center in Traverse City, and a variety of nursing homes including the Good Samaritan facilities in Aztec and Socorro, New Mexico, and Kissimmee, Florida. To fulfill a lifetime dream to travel, in her “retirement” she joined with several church groups in their global health missions to Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, the headwaters of the Amazon River in Brazil, the Soviet Union, South Africa, and the Kentucky Appalachians. She also took side trips to Peru, Ireland, the Kruger National Park, and saw Wyoming by covered wagon and the Alaskan Inside Passage by way of the local ferries.

Lois Swift is survived by her beloved children: son, Jeremy, of Traverse City, his wife Sue Sheffer Swift, grandchild Wendy of Grand Haven, her husband Nathan MacKeller, and great-grandchild, Braedyn; daughter, Marlene Blackwell, her husband Walter, grandchild Sharon, great-grandchildren, Adam, Gianna, and Xavier, and grandchild Robert, his wife Amanda Peabody Blackwell, and great-grandchildren, Jadyn, Brandon, and Aiden, all of Albuquerque, New Mexico; daughter, Susan Diane Leach of Albuquerque, New Mexico, her husband Lance, and grandchild, Drew of Atlanta, Georgia; and daughter Carol Espitia of Dickinson, Texas, grandchild Amanda Espitia of Chicago, Illinois, and grandchild Katie Segura of Crosby, Texas, her husband Richard, great-grandchildren, Gabriel and Kaylee; her nieces, Kit VanNiman of Coldwater and Roberta Waggoner and family of Carterville, Illinois, and her ex-husband, Galen Swift of Lewiston.

She loved to garden, had a huge soft spot for animals, and would strike up a conversation with any and all. She was insatiably curious, fiercely independent, personally private, and courageous. She was also stubborn, direct, philosophical, and caring. Lois lived life “out loud” and when she loved, she loved deeply. We hope she continues to inspire us, watch over us, and to wrap us in her love. We will carry her in our hearts forever.

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to either the Wardwell Nursing Scholarship Endowment Fund, c/o West Shore Community College, 3000 N Stiles Rd, Scottsville, MI, 49454; the Swift Nursing Endowment Fund, c/o Northwestern Michigan Community College, 1701 E Front St, Traverse City, MI, 49686; or Ottawa Animal Hospital Angel Fund, 12140 Kalkman Drive, Grand Haven, Michigan, 49417, where her granddaughter, Dr. Wendy Swift will help animals on her grandmother’s behalf.