Mary Lou Swanson was born March 29, 1931, to Henry and Leona (Birdsell) Topliff, and she passed from this life on May 11, 2019, at Republic County Hospital, at the age of 88 years. Mary Lou attended school in Lovewell, Kansas, graduating in 1949. On August 27, 1950, she married Charles F. Swanson, and to this union, six children were born: Dennis, Duane, Craig, Chris, Brad and Lucinda.
Mary Lou always enjoyed travelling and exploring new destinations. Family vacations were spent in the mountains, and she truly loved camping. She really enjoyed cooking all the family favorites for gatherings, with her chocolate sheet cake being the most requested.
Outings often included rodeos, festivals or parades with Charles, and as often as possible, sporting events to support the grandchildren. Many job titles were held over the years, including bookkeeper, working at Scott Industries, Republic County Hospital as a CNA, owner and editor of the Courtland Journal, postal clerk at the Courtland Post Office, before becoming the postmaster in 1985, retiring in 1998. Mary Lou was preceded in death by her parents, son Chris, husband of 68 years Charles, brother Lewis Topliff, sister Donna Clark, brothers-in-law Emery Hobelman and Ray Clark, sister-in-law Minnie Topliff.
She will be deeply missed by her children: Dennis (Linda) Swanson of Courtland, Duane Swanson of Courtland, Craig (Alice) Swanson of Woodburn, Oregon, Brad Swanson and friend Amy Williams of Courtland, Cindy (Lowell) Frerichs of Liberal, Kansas. Remembering her in her most treasured role of “Granny” are ten grandchildren: Amy (Shannon) Sampson of Moreauville, Louisiana; Lori (Ryan) Carlgren of Formoso; Kevin Swanson of Ft. Supply, Oklahoma; Marci (Jace) Allen of Scandia; Bre’an (Jonathon) Forsythe of Meridian, Idaho; Justin Swanson of Woodburn, Oregon; Adam (Danielle) Swanson of Belleville; Meghan Swanson of Concordia; Carly Swanson and friend Logan Singular of Courtland; Ethan Frerichs of Liberal; 16 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great granddaughter.
She is also survived by her sister, Ruth Hobelman of Superior, Nebraska. Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, May 18th, 2019, at the United Methodist Church in Courtland, with burial following at White Rock Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4:00pm to 9:00pm on Friday, May 17th, with family greeting friends from 6:00pm to 8:00pm, at Tibbetts-Fischer Funeral Home in Belleville.
Memorials may be made to the Mary Lou Swanson Memorial, and will be designated by the family at a later date. Tibbetts-Fischer Funeral Home assisted the Swanson family with these arrangements.
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