Duane Swanson, 67, passed away on February 3, 2021 at the Hampton Hospital
Hospice Center.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, June 12, 2021 at
Dows City Park.
Visitation will be held one hour prior to services at Dows City Park on
Saturday, June 12, 2021.
Those planning to attend the Celebration of Life Service are invited to bring a
lawn chair. Those in attendance will be asked to follow social distancing
guidelines and encouraged to wear a face covering.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorials be made to the following:
Franklin County Fair (which Duane hasn't missed since showing hogs there as a
young boy in 4-H), the Coulter Fire Department's new building (where Duane
served as a volunteer firefighter for several years), or to the Hospice Center
of North Iowa who took amazing care of him during his time as a patient.
Duane George Swanson (Porkchop / Grandpa Porkchop) was born on July 16, 1953 to
Betty (Hackbarth) and Raymond Swanson. Duane was born on his dad's 30th birthday
and always said "Mom gave dad one heck of a present!" Growing up they lived on a
farm north of Dows. From the time he was a young boy he adored farming with his
dad and brothers – it was his first love. He graduated with the class of 1971
from Dows Community School.
On August 7, 1976 Duane married Jean Andersen. They moved to their farm south of
Coulter where they raised two daughters, Terri and Amy, and farmed together
until their retirement after the fall harvest of 2020.
Duane was an avid fisherman and also loved to hunt, play cards, enjoy coffee
with friends, write poems, and tell jokes. He made everyone smile and laugh
wherever he was. Duane was very fond of his 1929 Model A and a 1939 Chevy that
he had restored and took great pride in. He would travel to many cars shows and
take trips around the country in them with Jean. Duane would visit with anybody
that showed interest in his cars.
Duane was an active member of the Dows and Coulter communities, having helped
with many local projects. He cooked wild game and fried hundreds of pounds of
fish over the years for the local fish fry, golf course, and stag parties. Some
of his best memories were the many fishing trips he got to take with his
buddies. He was loved by all and will deeply be missed.
Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Jean, daughter Terri (Jeff) Nelson and
granddaughters Emma and Ally of Ames and daughter Amy (Jim) Schultes and
grandsons Collin and Tyson of Halbur.
He is survived by his siblings: Karen (Ivan) Noelck, Virgil (Jill) Swanson, Ruby
(Larry) Rhines, Edward (Kim) Swanson, Linda (Jon) Allen, in-laws Beverly (Al)
Lange, numerous nieces and nephews, and amazing friends.
Preceding him in death are his grandparents, parents, mother and father in-law,
and a nephew and niece, Tony and Karie.