Anita Swanson, 83, of North Platte died October 3rd at the Sutherland Care Center. Anita was born in Topeka, KS in 1929 to Hugh and Marguerite Knisely. She lived in Topeka until age 5 when her family moved to Wichita, KS, and then to North Platte when she was in junior high. She graduated from North Platte High School with the class of 1947, and attended Hastings College. Anita wanted to be a nurse since she was a child and pursued this dream by attending nurses training at Children’s Hospital in Denver. She took her first nursing job in 1953 at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN.
In 1960, she resigned her nursing position in Minnesota to take the trip of a lifetime, a summer long trip throughout Europe with a nursing friend. After this trip, she moved back to North Platte to resume her nursing career at Memorial Hospital in a small town environment, intending this to be a short-term stint before seeking new opportunities on the West Coast. However, she found that she enjoyed being back in North Platte, and plans to relocate were put on hold. In 1961, she met and married Alfred Swanson in Hutchinson, KS. In 1965, Anita put her nursing career on hold to begin raising a family, but when her children were old enough, resumed working on a part-time basis at the Great Plains Regional Medical Center until her retirement in the early 1990s.
Anita was an avid reader and an enjoyer of music. She played the clarinet when in school and, later, with the North Platte Municipal Band and Sandhills Symphony. While her increasing physical limitations limited her ability to participant in music in her last few years, her joy of music never died – she would tap her foot to the beat of a song until her death. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in North Platte for 70 years, Presbyterian Women’s Morning Fellowship, and Chapter Go of the PEO Sisterhood. In retirement, Anita and Al split time between North Platte and Winter Park, CO. However, above all, Anita enjoyed spending time with her family and many friends, even finding friends wherever she went. Many of the early friendships she established upon moving to North Platte became a part of what she called “our gang” and ultimately lifelong friendships.
She is survived by her loving husband of 52 years, Alfred of North Platte, two children – Kay (Andy) Irvine of Fraser, CO; and Jim (Tracy) Swanson of Golden, CO; a brother Jim (Delores) Knisely of Lincoln, NE; grandchildren Jack and Nathan Swanson of Golden, CO; sister-in-law Betty Lou Udouch of Johnstown, PA; and nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents.
Donations may be made to the Sutherland Care Center, 333 Maple St, P.O. Box 307, Sutherland, NE 69165-0307. Online condolences may be shared at www.carpentermemorial.com. Funeral services will be 11:00 am Friday, October 11, 2013 at the First Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Polly K. Deppen officiating. Burial will follow at Ft. McPherson National Cemetery. Visitation will be Wednesday and Thursday 8:30 am to 8:00 pm at Carpenter Memorial Chapel, which is charge of arrangements.