Joyce Swift

MASON CITY - Joyce Swift, 81, of Mason City, died Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010 at Good Shepherd Health Center, with her family by her bedside.
A memorial service will be held on Friday, Nov. 26, at 11:30 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 100 S. Pierce Ave., in Mason City, with the Pastor Paul Collier officiating. Inurnment will be held at a later date. Those who wish may direct memorials to the First Presbyterian Church or the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, No. 444, 505 5th Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50309-2321.
Joyce was born in Mason City on March 27, 1929, to Gladys M. (Kiser) Bisbee and Floyd E. Bisbee, the first of three children. She graduated from Mason City High School in 1946 and attended Western State College in Gunnison, Co. On February 20, 1948, Joyce married her high school sweetheart, Chuck Swift, also of Mason City. For sixty-two years, the couple remained sweethearts. In earlier years, Joyce was active with the Board of Public Health, the YWCA Board of Directors, Community Chest, and her church, the First Presbyterian, of which she was a long-term member. She was active on the Board of Directors of Marshall & Swift, Inc. for over 40 years and was of invaluable assistance in the company's transition to a regional textile service supply company. After moving from town to "the farm" in 1967, Joyce's interests grew to include gardening, birding, and planting trees. Together with Chuck, their children, and the help of "lucky" friends, they planted over 16,000 trees on their land. Her next project was the creation of her flower gardens. They were beautiful and she loved working in them.
To those who knew her, Joyce will be remembered as not only kind and gracious, but generous with her love and attention. Joyce made everything fun, from family vacations and extended-family reunions to holiday feasts for friends and family. She was a devoted wife, a loving and supportive mother, and a true friend. Her grandchildren were bewitched by their Nanny, and each developed a special bond with her. Her nieces and nephews were very important to her, also, and they treasure the love they shared with her. Joyce left this world a better place for being here. She will be greatly missed.
Joyce is survived by her husband, Charles D. Swift, son, Steve Swift and his wife, Sheila, of Clear Lake; daughter, Alison Konefes of Mason City, grandchildren Jennie Hoglund, her husband, Grant, and great-grandchildren, Evan and Norah Hoglund, of St. Paul, Minn., grandsons Chuck Konefes of Lincoln Park, Ill., and Steve Konefes of Rogers Park, Ill.; son, Alan Swift and his wife, Debbie, of Hayden, Idaho, granddaughter, Margo Crabb, and great-grandchildren, Paige and Ben Crabb, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, granddaughter, Melissa DeVisser and her husband, Jerre, and great-grandchildren Tyler Sheahan and Lilly DeVisser of Pell City, Alabama; sister, Janice Litteneker, of Idaho Falls, Idaho; sister-in-law, Hetsy Bisbee, of Stonington, Conn.; and many cousins and nieces and nephews. Special friends include Nancy Bauer and Dorothy Prunty, both of Clear Lake. She was preceded in death by her parents, brother, Jean Bisbee, and brother-in-law, Paul Litteneker.
Arrangements are with Major Erickson Funeral Home & Crematory, 111 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Mason City, Iowa 50401, 641-423-0924. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.majorericksonfuneralhome.com.