Hartley Dean Swanson

My first meeting of "Uncle Hartley" is one I will always remember and with that memory there will always be a smile upon my face and upon my heart. When I first met Uncle Hartley, I visited Kozy Kamp with my husband, Robert Maki, for their 50th Wedding Anniversary. When Robert introduced me to his Uncle Hartley, he immediately with open arms embraced me with such a warm, welcoming hug that said, through his actions, "you are family." He did not look at the color of my skin, or what I...

Hartley was an absolutely wonderful man that we will greatly miss here in the U.P. Always referred to as "Uncle Hart", I began to look up to him at an early age. Whether we were goose hunting at Camp Weasel or enjoying brook trout at the Homestead, he was always genuinely interested in my course in life and readily offered advice. We enjoyed talking about hunting land in the UP, as someday I hope to own as much as Hartley does on the Flatrock road. One of my fondest memories of Hartley...

What do you call "people" who are not related to you, but through marriage, become family? We hear the term "mother-in-law" ---"father-in-law" ---"sister-in-law" --- and "brother-in-law" to refer to these newly aquainted relatives. There is a German word for parents of your children's spouses. Since I don't know what it is, we referred to Joyce and Hart as "friends-in-law". And, that's exactly what they were---friends. Even though we lived miles apart, we spent many Christmas Eve's and...

We loved "Mr. Hart"! Besides being a great neighbor his gardening expertise was second to none. For years he always grew an awesome vegetable garden in his side yard that all could see (and envy). This included sweet corn. I was so inspired by this that I too decided to try my hand at it in our side yard. Of course I asked for Mr. Hart's expertise and wow, there was a lot of sweet corn for several summers in a row! Also , he was so kind to plow many neighbors driveways in the winter-a real...

In 1979 Hart was project manager for Daverman Architects on the Creston High School Additon when I joined Grand Rapids Public Schools. We quickly developed a mutual respect and several years later we were fortunate when Hart accepted my offer to be a project inspector/manager with the Operations division of GRPS. He was always dedicated to working with the architects, engineers, and contractors to assume quality buildings for the students of Grand Rapids. I knew I could have complete trust...

You have always been more than an in-law, you were part of our family from day one. Your shoes will never be filled. My heart aches.
Aunt Mary

I will miss Hart greatly. His sense of humor, wit, craftsmanship (with such precision and perfection), dish washing side by side, warmth, bear hugs, generosity, kindness and love of our dog Libby. He was and shall remain a man of excellence.
Love you Hart! Sallie & Chris