Edith D. Swann

Edith was born in Staten Island, NY, the fourth of five children to Amanda Bergendahl and Mattias Danielson, immigrants from the Aland Islands, Finland. She attended Port Richmond High School and worked for Travelers Insurance in Brooklyn, before studying at St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing. Two months after graduating nursing school, she married Raymond Swann, a student at New York Medical College, whom she had met at Wassa Augustana Lutheran Church on Staten Island. The couple settled in Kalamazoo, Michigan, after a decade in which Edith worked as a nurse at the Veterans Administration in Staten Island and Portland, Oregon. It was in Kalamazoo, in her forties, that Edith fulfilled her lifelong aspiration of receiving a college degree from Western Michigan University, with a perfect academic record. In 1988, she and her husband retired to San Antonio, Texas, where Edith would spend the next thirty years with her family.

Edith was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sibling, and friend whose kind and joyful attention made her a fixture of her communities. She was a faithful member of Christ Lutheran Church in Alamo Heights. She played paddle tennis well into her sixties, bridge until the end of her life, read widely, traveled, walked with friends, sang in church, and commenced each family gathering with a Swedish prayer. Her openness—manifested physically by impeccable dress, perfectly styled golden hair, bright eyes, and an always present and welcoming smile—brought those who knew her closer; her 97th birthday party was attended by over forty friends and family members. She was a child of the Depression who rode the Staten Island ferry to work and once saw Frank Sinatra perform for 25 cents in Manhattan. She was generous, optimistic, and remained the emotional center of her family as it grew and dispersed throughout the country.

Edith was preceded in death by her husband, parents, and siblings. She is survived by her two children, Karl Swann, MD and Cynthia Swann, MD, their spouses Elisabeth Swann and Lawrence Greif, MD, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

The family would like to thank Diana, Mary, Esther, and Deborah, as well as Sisters Care at the Village at Incarnate Word, for their caring and joyful help, allowing Edith to remain happily in her own home. Services will be private for family only. In lieu of flowers, any donations would be gratefully accepted by Christ Lutheran Church of Alamo Heights.