Blanche Swann

It is with much sadness that we share the passing of our everything, Blanche Swann. On September 26th, 2024 while playing one of her favorite games, connect four, she shed her earthly restrictions and gracefully went to the Lord. Blanche was born August 4, 1918 to Richard & Helen (Domagalski) Carter in Gay, Michigan on the Keeweenaw Peninsula of Upper Michigan. She was 106 years young. Blanche was 1 of 11 siblings whom all loved baseball. The whole family would play as they always had enough players for a game. Blanche married the love of her life, Fred Swann and they had 3 children, Patricia, William & Henry. Blanche and Fred had a bond that could not be broken as they went thru Fred's Navy service during World War II and later Fred's trucking career. Separation was no match for them. They conquered the use of CB radio. The airways would hear "High Gear Homer" and his little "Snapdragon" speaking in code everyday...mostly about what's for dinner and if there was a bear in the bush that could delay eating.

Preceded in joining the Lord is her mother & father, Richard & Helen, her beloved husband Fred, all 10 of her brothers & sisters, Leon, William, Loretta, Bernice, Alice, Freddie, Florence, Beatrice, Elsie & Richard, beloved son William/Bill/Willy, daughter in-law Patty (Henry), daughter in-law Judy (Bill), grandson in-law Dennis (Keri) and her great great granddaughter Azriel.
Blanche is survived by daughter Patricia (George), son Henry (Pam), granddaughters, Dawn, Crystal (Dan), Keri (Desimar), Sarah (Michelle), grandsons Kyle, Clint, Henry (Brittany), great grandchildren Danny (Theresa), Davy (Andrea), Summer (AJ), Christian, Skylar, Derek, Kerinna, Desimar Jr, great great grandchildren Analeia, Solomon, Ariella & coming soon (aka: Littlest Henry).

SERVICES for BLANCHE SWANN
will be held
Wednesday October 9th at
St Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church
31530 Beechwood Ave., Garden City, MI 48135
9:30am Rosary
10:00am Funeral Mass

Blanche leaves behind a tremendous legacy of laughter, love, service, greatfulness & prayer. Blanche loved the rosary and prayed it daily. She found great strength in her faith. Sharp dressing came naturally and most often in the form of a snazzy blazer headed to church. One of her most commendable accomplishments was to raise money for the church. She alone would design & sew medium, large and giant teddy bears to be sold. She had a whole room at home designated for their making. She made and sold enough teddy bears to carpet the entire church.
Blanche could hardly wait for the next party, to celebrate, dance and sing, "Down by the old mill stream". She enjoyed campfires, roasting marshmallows, long walks on trails thru the woods, riding her bicycle, watching deer visit the salt licks, and swimming in the lake. She shared her enthusiasm for swimming by making everyone jump in the lake with a bar of soap when they came to visit (no chance she'd let you use up the hot water in the house).
She had a magical recipe for baked beans that did NOT include giving you flatulence. She cooked everything from scratch and from memory with measurements consisting of handfuls, tosses, pinches & dashes. She had a huge garden that included carrots the size of sweet potatoes. She could catch, clean & cook any bird or fish and turn it into a feast. Always had a fresh pie or two cooling on the porch.Our Blanche loved to play cards and could hardly wait to make you draw four, over and over and over. You knew you were done for if she was biting her tongue. Oh boy did she love her Detroit Tigers baseball. Over time she didn't always know what day it was but she could tell you who was pitching and next up to bat. She went to Tigers games and hurried for the best seat in the bleachers every year thru her 102nd birthday. Pretty sure that makes her their biggest fan. "GO TIGERS!" Blanche had a great ability to make you feel heard, loved and special. She kept marching forward even when the moment or the news was not good. Needless to say Blanche had Moxie. Most of all she had the biggest, happiest, most contagious, prettiest smile of all time.

Please share a memory of Blanche by signing her Guestbook.