Virgil A. Swanson

FOREST CITY - Virgil A. Swanson, age 98 of Forest City, died Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit in Mason City.

Funeral service will be held at 1:30 PM on Saturday, July 30, 2011 at the First Baptist Church in Forest City with Pastor Doug Snyder officiating. Burial will be at First Baptist Cemetery in Forest City. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 PM on Friday, July 29, 2011 at Petersen Lund Funeral Home 505 N. Clark Street in Forest City and will continue an hour prior to service at the church.

Virgil A. Swanson was born on the family farm southeast of Forest City, Iowa, on September 27, 1912, the son of Jonas and Emma (Lewis) Swanson. He attended school in Ellington Township #2 and graduated from Forest City High School in 1929. Later he graduated from Coyne Electrical School in Chicago, Illinois.
Virgil farmed with his father until June 1942 when he was inducted into the US Army during World War II. He served at various camps in the United States, and for 2 1/2 years he was stationed in England where he was attached to the 8th Air Force as a mechanic in a service group at a P51 air base.
On December 7, 1945 he married Lorraine Fox in Duluth, Minnesota, after which they farmed southeast of Forest City. He was a member of First Baptist Church, where he was a member of the choir and served in various capacities through the years. He always enjoyed his family, farming, hunting, and serving his Lord through the church. He went to be with his Lord on July 27, 2011 after a very short stay at Hospice of North Iowa in Mason City.
He was preceded in death by his parents, infant son Robert in February 1947, brother and sister-in-law Delmer and Lillian Swanson, sister and brother-in-law Ethel and Chester Gunderson and brother-in-law Art Beekmann.
Virgil is survived by his beloved wife of 65 years, Lorraine; son Dana (Marci) Swanson; daughter JoLayne (Paul) Widen; 4 grandchildren: Emily (Chad) Anderson, Matt (Diane) Swanson, Josh Widen and Mandy (Cory) Champney; 5 great-grandchildren Seth, Trevor, and Brandon Champney and Cooper and Riley Marie Anderson; sister-in-law Darlene Beekmann, and many nieces and nephews, including Lee (Stephanie) Swanson, Richard (Doreen) Gunderson and Philip (Carol) Gunderson and their families.