Blanche Marie Swedberg

Blanche Marie Swedberg, 76, of Wilmette, passed away on May 9, 2020, after a brief bout with cancer. She was the loving wife of Richard, beloved mother of Kirsten (Henry) and Richie (Bobbi), devoted grandmother of Max, Caroline, Meredith, and Logan, and the dear sister of William (Linda) McGuire, John McGuire, and the late Eugene (Sue) McGuire. She grew up in Chicago and graduated from St. Gregory High School in 1961. Blanche went on to earn an associate's degree from Mount St. Clare College in Clinton, IA in 1963. In 1965, shortly after becoming a Delta Air Lines flight attendant, Blanche met Richard through a mutual friend. The two were married on Dec. 19, 1969. Her career at Delta, her courage, and curiosity propelled her through an exciting adventure-filled life. She honeymooned with Richard in Africa. Kirsten was born in the fall of 1975, and Richie came along in June 1978. Blanche was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 1980. Undaunted, and at the age of forty, she became a pilot. Her globe-trotting career as a 1960s-era Delta flight attendant was cut short by MS in the mid-1990s, but the disease that confined her to a chair couldn't slow her down. Blanche was an accomplished watercolor artist and talented seamstress with an artistic eye and a French flair. Her paintings vividly captured the wildflowers and landscapes she loved from summers spent with friends and family on Washington Island, WI. Blanche was sweet, kind, generous, and patient. She continued to energetically express her boundless love for family and friends through her paintings even as her brushes became more and more difficult to manipulate in recent years. Of all her accomplishments however, the relationship she had with our dad was the one of which she should have been most proud. They shared an extraordinary bond, and their love, and that which they shared for their children and grandchildren, cannot be overstated. Despite her illness, Blanche lived a wonderfully rich, and exciting life surrounded by loving friends and family. A memorial service and celebration of life will be held at a later date. Arrangements entrusted to Donnellan Funeral Home, Skokie, IL. Private interment at Memorial Park, Skokie, IL. Donations can be made in her memory to the MS Society, and the Xerces Society.