Cynthia Jean Swanson

Cynthia Jean Swanson

It is with great sadness that the family of loving wife and mother, Cynthia Jean Swanson, announces her passing on Thursday, December 24, 2020 at the age of 69 due to Alzheimer's disease.

Cyndy was born in Alton, Illinois to Harold and Emma Crum and moved to Arizona in early childhood. She graduated from Gerard High School in Phoenix and earned her Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Development in 1972 from Arizona State University where she met Don Swanson who would become her husband in March 1973. They raised one daughter, Emily. After college she became the first caseworker for a number of years in the 2-person office of what was then Big Sisters of Arizona. Cyndy had many loves in her life. She loved animals. Animals of all kinds, especially those who were lost, homeless, or needed urgent help of some kind and to many dogs, cats, rabbits, and others she made a home. She loved reading, collecting books and attending author signings. She loved collecting greeting cards of all types so she could send just the right card with just the right personal message of her own to those she cared so much about. She loved the Beatles. Anybody who tried to compete in a trivia contest about their lives or music was bound to go down in defeat. She loved British mysteries on PBS marveling at the quaint villages where the crimes occurred in that fictional world. She loved traveling and staying in those atmospheric New England grand hotels with stately lobbies where she could sit and watch the people and guess their stories. She loved being kind and becoming a friend to just about everybody she met in her daily life. She somehow knew the names of everybody - delivery people, store workers, service providers, and got gifts for their kids and grandkids who she most often never met. She loved Ahwatukee Pre-School where she taught 4-year olds for 20 years with many growing into adult friends and her colleagues who became so close to her. And she loved her small family of husband Don, daughter Emily, grandson, Cade, brother, Kevin Crum, and sister-in-law, Tammi, most of all.

Cyndy was preceded in death by her father, Harold Crum, and mother, Emma. No memorial service is planned due to the Covid crisis, but a memorial will be held at an appropriate time. In lieu of flowers, please send any donations to Hospice of the Valley or the animal rescue organization of your choice. Condolences can be sent to Falconer Funeral Home in Gilbert.