FURMAN RUSSELL SWANSON, 101, passed peacefully into the arms of his Lord and Savior on November 7, 2020. Furman was born in Hudson, N.C., to William Russell Swanson and Lydia Belle Prestwood Swanson. Though his early years were filled with tragedy, hardship and poverty, Furman lived a wonderful long life filled with joy, love and prosperity through perseverance and dedication to serving family, country and God.
Furman was in the 10th grade when his father died in 1932. He left school to help his mother and grandparents on the family farm, and eventually left home looking for work. He “rode the rails” over much of the U.S., sending money back home whenever he found work. He developed a wonderful work ethic and spent the remainder of his working years saving to make a good life for his family.
Furman was drafted into the Army in December 1941 and served four years and seven months in the 479th Amphibious Truck Company. His rank was Technician Fifth Grade; his job was Truck Driver-Heavy. Furman operated a DUKW, delivering supplies from ship to shore during the European Theatre of Operations of World War II. He saw action in Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Normandy, Rhineland and Northern France. He was awarded the EAMET Campaign Medal with 5 Bronze Stars, the American Defense Service Medal, and the Croix de Guerre.
Following honorable discharge in 1945, Furman attended the Allied School of Mechanical Trades in Chicago where he earned certification as a master machinist and welder, and worked evenings at the Spiegel Company. He then returned to his hometown and found employment as a machinist in Hickory, N.C. Furman enjoyed riding motorcycles and joined a motorcycle association which built a racing bike and sponsored a rider. Furman taught himself to play the fiddle he inherited from his father, and enjoyed playing music with family and friends.
Furman met the love of his life and married Frances Irene Watson in 1953. He gained employment as a machinist with DOE at the Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Complex and moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in 1954, eventually settling in the Hardin Valley community of Knox County where he and Irene built a house and raised a family of four children. Wanting to finish his high school education, he attended night classes at Karns High School and earned his GED in 1968.
Furman and Irene joined Marietta Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1961. Furman loved his church and served as an elder on the building and grounds committee, and was instrumental in improving the church’s driveway, re-landscaping the parking lot, and building the bell house.
Furman and Irene enjoyed a long and happy marriage of 62 years until Irene’s death at the age of 92 in 2016. Furman is preceded in death by son, Toby John Swanson; brother, James Swanson; sisters, Ruth Kincaid, Ila Bolick, Margaret Dabrowski, and Martha Setzer. Furman is survived by his children, Deborah Swanson Muse, Jennifer Lynne Swanson, and James Richard Swanson (Kay); five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, all of Knoxville; brother, G.B. Swanson of Fishersville, VA; sister, Merle Harris of Goldsboro, N.C.; several nieces and nephews.
A graveside service will be held at Marietta Cumberland Presbyterian Church at 11:00 o’clock on November 10th. In lieu of flowers and as part of their final wishes, Furman and Irene asked that donations be made to the March of Dimes Foundation, as they are eternally grateful for God’s blessing of four healthy children. Condolences are welcome at weaverfuneralservices.com
Weaver Funeral Home
5815 Western Ave.
Knoxville, TN 37921
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