Ms. Dorothy A. Swanson

Dorothy Arlene Swanson, a longtime resident of Northridge, passed away peacefully on January 21, 2014, after a long battle with kidney disease. She was 83. Dorothy grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as the youngest child of Stephania (Stella) and Joseph Swiencicki, immigrants from Poland. She spent her early years on the family farm, where she loved to play around the animals, pick cattails with her brother and spend hours climbing trees. Several years after graduating from high school, she set out to join her brother in Southern California, completing a cross-country trip with less than $100 in her pocket and never looking back. Over the next sixty years in Southern California, friends and family came to refer to her affectionately as Peri. As a resident of Granada Hills and then Northridge, Peri was a dedicated mother and a devoted secretary at Lockheed Martin. With a taste for adventure, Peri would fondly recall special adventures such as snow skiing, white-water river rafting and a trip to Europe. At home, she was an avid gardener, quilter and history buff. In 2011, Peri moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to live closer to her family. She is survived by her daughter, Nancy Tourkolias Bardsley of San Carlos, Calif.; a son-in-law, Greg Bardsley of San Carlos; two grandchildren; a sister, Lottie Bartnick of Comstock Park, MI; and numerous nieces and nephews. Dorothy's remains will be scattered at sea at a future date to be determined with the Neptune Society. In lieu of flowers the family requests any donations be made to The National Kidney Foundation.