Marvin Luverne Swanson

Marvin Luverne Swanson

Marvin Swanson passed away peacefully at his home in Yucaipa, California on August 17, 2023 at the age of 93. He was born April 18, 1930 in Warren, Minnesota to Carl and Anna (Johnson) Swanson, the fourth son of five boys. He grew up on a farm in Vega Township in rural Warren, Minnesota and attended Immanuel Lutheran Church in Vega. He initially attended a country school, then starting in the 7th grade he went to school in Warren, riding into town with his older brothers. He took metal shop and wood shop classes in high school and discovered a lifelong love of wood-working and metal-working. He graduated from Warren High School in 1948. His first remodeling project was in 1949 on the family farmhouse where he added a kitchen and bathroom.

In 1951 he was drafted into the Marine Corps for the Korean War and did his basic training at Camp Pendleton, California. While in Korea, he was assigned to be one of the carpenters for the camp so he was always busy building something. After being honorably discharged, in the fall of 1954 he enrolled in the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks on the GI Bill. At the end of his first semester, he met his future wife Hansena Olson at a dance and they were married July 2, 1955 in Bethlehem Lutheran Church in New Solum Township. In 1958 he earned his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Arts and they moved to Holtville, California (in the Imperial Valley in southern California) where Marvin got his first teaching job.

He supplemented his income by driving a school bus and the kids quickly learned who was boss. During summers, they returned to Minnesota where Marvin worked with family and pursued a Master of Education degree from UND, which he earned in 1964. He was a proud alumnus of UND and attended many reunions over the years.

In the early 1960s Marvin and Hansena moved a few miles away to Brawley, California where Marvin taught wood shop and metal shop at Brawley Union High School and Calipatria High School before leaving teaching in the early 1970s to pursue his true passion, building and remodeling homes. Besides clients' projects, he successfully built and sold homes for his own account. In 1978 Marvin and Hansena moved to Salinas, California. He loved their home overlooking the Salinas Valley farmland and being so close to Carmel and Monterey. He continued his remodeling endeavors there, after which he went back to school and became a building inspector for a private company which he loved because he could still visit job sites. In 2019 Marvin and Hansena moved to southern California to be closer to their children.

In his spare time, Marvin enjoyed restoring old cars, re-building car engines, building furniture and building dune buggies. The family had many fun times in the desert outside of Brawley trying out his latest dune buggy design. He learned to ski after he turned 50 and enjoyed skiing in Lake Tahoe and also ventured to Austria and Canada for ski trips. He loved to read non-fiction and in particular, learning about World War II. A personal highlight was meeting Air Force Four-Star General Jimmy Doolittle, the famed commander of the Doolittle Raid on Japan. He also enjoyed many years participating in the men's choir at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Salinas.

Marvin was proud of his Swedish heritage and had deep roots in his beloved Minnesota where he loved to return for visits. He will be remembered for his gift of story-telling, strong work ethic, beautiful blue eyes, easy smile and his ability to fix anything.

Marvin is survived by his wife, Hansena, son Jeff Swanson of Palm Desert, California, daughter Tamra (Kirby) Greenlee of Newport Beach, California, grandchildren Denise (Greg) Goldberg, Matthew Swanson, Devon Greenlee and Brett Greenlee, brother Einar Swanson, sisters in law Marlys Swanson and Patty Swanson and many nieces and nephews.

Marvin was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers, Evald Swanson, Arnold Swanson and Ear lSwanson, and two sisters in law, Phyllis Swanson and Aryla Kae Swanson.