- Date Of Birth: December 20, 1930
- Date Of Death: December 27, 2015
- State: Illinois
Russ Swensen, 85, of Ottawa, passed away peacefully on Dec. 27, at St. Joseph Hospital in Joliet.
He was surrounded by his loving family as he passed into his heavenly home.
He married Joann Hagen on August 1, 1954. She survives. Russ was a loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, uncle, and a good friend to all who knew him. He was a member of the Bethel Lutheran Church in Ottawa. Russ served in the United States Army, 7th Infantry Division and 31st Regimental Combat Team from 1951 -1953 during the Korean War. He worked at Ottawa High School where he was a custodian for 30 years and was the stage lighting manager, and a bus driver for the high school and elementary schools.
He is survived by three children, Jim (Linda) Swensen of Rockland, Maine, Laurie (Bob) Gilich of Ottawa, Julie (Kevin) Foss of Wilmington, North Carolina, six grandchildren, Russell (Tracy) Daggett, Rachel (Doug) Grass, Jonathon (Natalie) Eltrevoog, Ryan (Beckah) Daggett, Kathleen Foss, Christina Eltrevoog, ten great-grandchildren, Keagen, Calvin, Killian and Colin Grass, Jason Daggett, Russell, Carleigh, and Jack Daggett, Carter and Janae Eltrevoog, one sister, Helen Baxter of Minneapolis, Minnesota, one cousin Kathy (Jack) Keck of Dekalb, and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, an infant son, John Lyle Swensen, one sister, Charlotte Swensen, and two brothers, Daniel and Wendell.Pallbearers will be: Kevin Foss, Russell and Ryan Daggett, Johnathon Eltrevoog, Bob Gilich, Ethan and Steven Hagen, and Matt Pittman.Memorials may be directed to Bethel Lutheran Brethren Church or Tell It Again Radio program.Blessed be his memory
