Clarence Fennet Swanson

MISSION HILL, S.D. - Clarence Fennet Swanson, 81, of Mission Hill, S.D., formerly of Dannebrog, died of heart failure Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, with family by his side at home.

Memorial services will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Calvary Baptist Church in Yankton, S.D. and at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at First Baptist Church in Dannebrog.

Fellowship time will follow both services.

Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home and Crematory in Yankton, S.D., is in charge of the arrangements.

Clarence Fennet Swanson (Fennet, no one called him Clarence), son of Joseph Sven and Lillian (Wrasse) Swanson, was born Feb. 19, 1930, in a sod house on the homestead about five miles north of Westerville in Custer County.

Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Carol (Bergsten) Swanson; five sons, Raymond (Irina) Swanson of Sweden, Norm (Debi) Swanson of Grand Forks, N.D., Arlan (Linda) Swanson of Fulda, Minn., Charlie (Cindy Fitzgerald) Swanson of Kearney, Mo., and Vern (Christy) Swanson of Lowell, Ark.; and 12 grandchildren.

Other survivors include 14 great-grandchildren.

He attended Mt. Custer School until at age 10, his family moved to Dannebrog. He graduated from Dannebrog High School in 1947.

Fennet attended Bethel College in St. Paul, Minn., where he met his lovely wife, Carol. They married Aug. 25, 1950, at First Baptist Church in Anoka, Minn. They made their home in Dannebrog, close to his parents east of town for a year and then moved south of town where they developed the cattle ranch and raised their boys.

They moved to Grand Rapids, Minn., in 1982 and owned Mickey's Restaurant for several years before moving to Pequot Lakes, Minn. They eventually retired in Mission Hill, S.D., where they lived for more than 23 years.

Fennet was an active member of First Baptist Church in Dannebrog as a Deacon, youth leader, and served on the Board of the Baptist General Conference. He accepted Christ as his Savior there as a teen. He always said that he came to Christ because God led the family to a Bible-preaching church. Most recently a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Yankton, he loved to serve in the nursery. He led many home Bible studies over the years and was used by God to point many toward Christ. He was a man of integrity, who loved greatly and worked hard.

Fennet was also a cattleman at heart - he worked with his boys to develop a fine herd of Charolais and then Marchigiana cattle. He served on the board of the National Marchigiana Association and imported the first full-blooded "Markey" bull in the United States. His bulls won honors at the Denver Livestock Show.

He was a diehard Cornhusker football fan and died the day his favorite baseball team, the St. Louis Cardinals, won the World Series. He loved hunting duck, geese, pheasant and deer with family and friends. He spent many hours fishing on Leech Lake, Minn., with his sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His 35-pound muskie was a special trophy triumph caught on his 45th wedding anniversary (with help from his wife).

"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep." I Thessalonians 4:13-14

He is preceded in death by his parents; a sister, Jarda; brothers Melvin, Leonard, Arvid and an infant brother Theodore; and one great-grandchild.

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