Gene Allen Swanson

Gene A. Swanson passed away Jan. 30, 2017 at Bayside Care Center, Morro Bay, CA. Born In Kane, PA in June of 1936. He was the youngest child of Carl Leo Swanson and Mildred Christenson Swanson. Raised and educated in there, he enlisted in USAF shortly after he graduated high school in 1954. He married Carol F. Gerlach on June 29, 1957 while spending his next 20 years in the Air force. They raised 3 children together.

Over those years, he trained in strategic air command exercises, retrained into the guided missile electronics field, combat crew training and training on the Mace missile becoming one of the first crew chiefs to become operative ready after the group was activated. Reassigned eventually to the Titan III C project Office as a flight control specialist he was a member of the launch team placing a string of military communication satellites in orbit around the world. Training as guidance technician on the Mace missile he spent his final years as an operational missile senior controller.

Then finally completing his service as a shop supervisor/assistant in the 355th Tactical drone Squadron at Davis Monthan AF Base in Tuscon AZ in 1975 and moving to Paso Robles, CA with his family. He worked first at the Color Wheel, then 20 years until his 2nd retirement at Blake’s True Value Hardware in Paso Robles.

Gene is survived by his wife Carol, his son Tom of Baton Rouge, LA and daughter Kathleen (Mark) Schoenau of Fresno, CA, 7 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren and numerous nephews & nieces. Gene is preceded in death by his daughter Kirsten Wilson, his parents, his brother Tom Swanson and sisters Ferne Danielson, Helen Huckabone & Marjorie Sanders.