Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, 2590 Navajo Road, Axtell, KS 66403, US
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OBITUARY FOR SALEM MEMBER INEZ SWANSON
Inez E. Swanson, 92, Frankfort, died Monday, January 30, 2023, at the Community Memorial Healthcare in Marysville, KS.
A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m., February 11, 2023, at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, (rural) Axtell, KS. Visitation will be from 1 p.m. until service time at the church. Burial will follow in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery
Inez was born April 7, 1930, in rural Vliets, KS, the daughter of Edward and Clara (Kjellberg) Johnson. She was baptized, confirmed and a lifelong member of Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, rural Axtell. She taught Salem Sunday School and Summer Bible School classes joined the Rebekah Circle Women’s Organization, served organizational and funeral lunches, and contributed in other ways to the church. She was also a lifelong member of Salem’s Women Group and previously a member of Salem Lutherans Ladies Missionary Society and Salem LLL Daughters when the organizations were operating.
Inez attended the Lincoln Country School District #51 (rural Vliets), being promoted through the 8th grade. She then attended Frankfort High School, Frankfort, graduating with the class of 1948. One of her remembrances of country schooling was participating in the 1944 Marshall County Spelling Bee and winning 1st place as an 8th grader. During high school, her musical talents pushed her to play trumpet in the high school band and athletically she participated in track.
After high school, she worked for the 1st National Bank and for Security Benefit Life Insurance Company, both in Topeka. Inez was united in marriage to Harvey Leroy Swanson on August 27, 1949, at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Inez and her husband operated a grain and dairy farm in the Swede Settlement and Vermillion until 1957 when they moved to Vermillion. During the early 1950s, they began operating Swanson Construction Company in partnership with Keith and Lucille Swanson. Later, Inez and Harvey operated Harvey Swanson Construction Company and a soil conservation service business (until 2004), that served customers throughout Marshall, Pottawatomie, Nemaha and Washington counties.
Inez started a second career as a Certified Nurse’s Aide working at the Frankfort Community Care Home from 1974 through 1995. In late 2016, she decided to move to assisted living at Cambridge Place in Marysville. In her apartment there, she was very proud to hang the plaque from FCCH, signifying that she served as a CNA there for twenty years. When some CNA’s came in to help or treat her during her residence, we occasionally heard that she told the CNA, “I did your job for twenty years and I know what you are supposed to be doing!” in a jovial playful way. She was also a member of the American Legion Women’s Auxiliary in Frankfort.
Preceding her in death were her parents; her husband, Harvey; brother, Lyle D. Johnson; son, Terry L. Swanson; grandson, Brian M. Combs; great-grandson, Houston D. Ketter; and nephew, Richard A Johnson.
Survivors include her son, Larry (Pauline) Swanson, Frankfort; daughters, Lyla (Stephen) Smith, Topeka, Colleen (Morgan) Combs, Frankfort, and Kathy (Larry) Ketter, Home; and twelve grandchildren and nineteen great-grandchildren.
Pallbearers will be Eric Ketter, Chad Ketter, Cody Ketter, Chris Combs, Gabe Ketter and Joey Wall. Honorary pallbearers will be Joshua Swanson, Morgan Combs, Erin Dreiling, Jason Passmore and Robert Koch.
Memorials in memory of Inez Swanson may be sent to Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church’s Property & Improvement Fund. All contributions in her memory may be sent in care of Padden Funeral Chapel.
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Gary T. Johnson graveside service at Salem Lutheran Cemetery on 3.5.2022
Gary Theodore Johnson, 84, of Ozawkie, Kansas, peacefully passed from this life Friday afternoon February 25, 2022, with his loving family by his side at home. A funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m. March 5th at Meriden United Methodist Church, 100 Dawson St, Meriden, Kansas. The service may also be watched live at facebook.com/meridenunitedmethodistchurch. A military graveside ceremony will be held at 3:00 p.m. on March 5th at Salem Lutheran Church, 2590 Navajo Rd, Axtell, Kansas. Gary was born on September 26, 1937, at a farm north of Vliet's, Kansas, to Ted and Lucille Johnson. Gary’s parents moved to Axtell, Kansas, in 1940 where he attended grade school and high school and lettered all four years in four sports: football, basketball, track and baseball. Upon his graduation in 1956 he joined the Air Force. On June 15, 1957, Gary married the love of his life, Eileen (Vandorn) Johnson. The highlight of his military service was their two-year tour of duty on Guam. Upon discharge from the Air Force in 1960, he attended Washburn University and graduated with a Bachelor of Education degree in 1963. He taught social studies and coached at Dover, Centralia, and Sabetha High Schools. In 1965 and 1967 Gary and Eileen’s family grew with the addition of their two children, Brent and Sharilyn, who he loved spending time with, as well as hunting and fishing. In 1968 Gary left teaching and became a salesman for Team Sporting Goods in Topeka, and in 1972 he joined the sales team of the Arch Billmire Company selling to the sporting goods dealers in Nebraska and Kansas. In 1977 he was promoted to Regional Sales Manager and the family moved to Olathe, Kansas. In 1985 he was promoted to Vice President of Sales for the company and moved to Reno, Nevada. He retired in 1999 after which he and Eileen enjoyed many trips to Europe and the Pacific as well as summers at Lake Almanor, California, and winters in Tucson, Arizona, where he pursued woodcarving and silversmithing. In 2005, he and Eileen moved back to Ozawkie, Kansas, and have enjoyed many friendships, golfing, and fishing. Gary is survived by his wife Eileen, son Brent Johnson (Lisa), Manhattan, KS, daughter Sharilyn Bainter (Bill), Reno, NV, sister Joyce Dorner, Orlando, FL, four grandchildren: Carissa Johnson, Topeka, KS, Coleman Johnson (Rachel), Osage City, KS, Kara Bainter Warren (Jacob), Reno, NV, Ryan Bainter, Reno, NV. Gary was preceded in death by his father Ted Johnson, mother Lucille Johnson Thompson, stepfather Audley Thompson, sister Betty McAtee, brother Roger Johnson. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Meriden United Methodist Church, Salem Lutheran Church, or Wounded Warrior Project, c/o Barnett Family Funeral Home at PO Box 602, Oskaloosa, KS 66066.
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