Pottsboro
Beloved mother and grandmother, Marguerite Tyler Morrison Swanson, at the age of 99, went to sleep at home one night and woke up with her Heavenly Father and spiritual family on Thursday, February 13, 2020.
After a lengthy illness, on December 21, 2018, she was lovingly cared for in her home by her daughter, family friends, VA Home Based Primary Care, Hearts and Hands, Sunrise Home Health, Meals on Wheels and a special team from Home Hospice of Grayson County, who became like family.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on July 22, 1920, as the only daughter of Gertrude T. Morrison and Robert L. Morrison. The family owned a fruit farm in Montgomery, NY, where she was raised with her two brothers, John Morrison and Robert Morrison. She visited her aunt in Newburgh, caring for her baby cousin, Jim Tyler, whom she loved to rock in a wicker rocking chair at their house.
Marguerite was baptized and a member of the Brick Reformed Church, she attended Valley Central High School in Montgomery, where she wrote, and sang her song “Farewell Dear Friends” at their Graduation Ceremony.
After taking a course in home economics and child study, she became an assistant children’s teacher in Mrs. Hutchinson Nursery, a private school for children in Newburgh, NY, which she left in January 1942.
She enlisted in the United States Navy on December 16, 1943 and graduated as a Hospital Apprentice on February 22, 1944 at the Hospital Corps School in Bethesda, Maryland. She was transferred to the United States Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, VA where she loved her job helping patients as the ships brought them in. She received a medical discharge on June 2, 1945.
Marguerite and Leonard Dale Swanson were married on March 2, 1946 in the Brick Church in Montgomery, NY and moved to his home in Illinois. They had two children, Robert E. Swanson and Carol A. Swanson. They moved back to the family farm where she worked with her father and brother, John, raising the children. It was a proud day when she saw both of them graduate from the same school she graduated from. She traveled to London for her son’s wedding and they took her to Ireland and Scotland while she was there. She visited her daughter regularly, eventually moving to Texas with her.
In 2006, she was struck down and paralyzed with GBS and was hospitalized in the Dallas VA for several months, receiving intensive therapy and recovered partial mobility using a power wheelchair. Blessed with family and friends, she was able to visit her beloved niece, Barbara Morrison in Florida who took her to Disneyworld, where she had a wonderful time. Marguerite loved traveling, fishing, swimming, camping and music.
She is survived by her children, Robert E. Swanson of Holly Springs, NC and Carol A. King of Pottsboro; grandchildren, Mark Swanson, Matthew Swanson, James Swanson and Victoria Dawn Edwards; many great grandchildren; several great-great grandchildren; cousin, James Tyler and niece, Barbara Morrison.
She was preceded in death by her two brothers.
The family requests, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Red Cross.
Marguerite will be interred at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery at a later date.
Local arrangements are under the direction of Johnson-Moore Funeral Home.
Condolences may be registered to: www.johnsonmoorefuneralhome.net.
IN REMEMBRANCE
I’ll put no flowers on your grave,
For I know you are not there.
So, I’ll give them to a loved one,
And we’ll remember you, in prayer.
Father, who created our souls,
Has you now with Him.
And though, I know I’ll miss you so,
I’ll see you soon, again.
The price was paid, so long ago,
And now, your victory’s won.
Eternal life is your reward,
For you are with the Son.
You are with friends and family,
And joyful songs you’ll sing,
You’ll live on in my memory,
Until we meet again.
Death is not the end of life,
It’s only the beginning,
Of a life with or without Jesus,
The choice is ours, while living.
