Beatrice "Bea" Swenson

Beatrice “Bea” A. Swenson, age 91, of Alexandria, died on Saturday, December 4, 2021, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, December 11, 2021, at United Methodist Church in Alexandria with Rev. Jim Gaugan officiating. Music is provided by Gale Maxwell. Bea's service will be livestreamed and can be viewed on her obituary page on the funeral home's website. Interment will take place at Kinkead Cemetery, Alexandria.

Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m., Friday, at Lind Family Funeral Home in Alexandria and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church.

Beatrice Arlene (Seaberg) Swenson came into this world on April 15th, 1930. Her mission was clear from the start — make the world a better place. And so she began, one person at a time. Bea was a charismatic soul with a heart the size of Lake Le Homme Dieu. That unique heart reached far and wide to embrace everyone she touched. Her love and care for others was joyful and unending. To know her was to experience something infinitely warm, inclusive, and special.

Bea loved children and had five of their own. As the family grew, in-laws, grandchildren, and great grandchildren all were blessed with her heartwarming sincerity and love. The grandchildren and great-grands adored her. Her own children emulated her — all to great success.

Bea extended her family by welcoming new people into her life on an ongoing basis, and then inviting them into her home where eventually they landed in her heart. This could be as random as the salesman who sold them a new vehicle, or as purposeful as sponsoring a refugee family through church or PEO. She loved to LOVE.

Bea was a long-time member of the United Methodist church and found faith and strength in her Circle and Bible Study. She served on many committees, enjoying them all, the challenges they presented and the women who worked side by side.

Her many activities initiated heartfelt friendships that sustained her and enabled her to reap the joy that she sowed. Opportunities to forge those relationships grew out of her participation in many civic groups — Belle Lettres, PEO, Book Club, and the Gourmet Group that spanned 40 years.

Bea was unconventional, perhaps best exemplified by the fact that she was a pilot. She, and her pilot-husband Bob, spent many happy hours high in the sky traveling three continents in search of adventure and great cuisine. She particularly enjoyed the reactions of certain people who couldn’t imagine she could be a pilot and a woman at the same time. She also owned and managed properties.

She was very creative. Bea loved sewing, quilting, knitting, crocheting, reading, traveling, and flying. She once dabbled in the art of stained glass and produced some amazing results. The Methodist Church benefited from her talent when they asked her to participate in the design and creation of the new church’s stained glass windows. Puzzles were her biggest weakness, and bird watching came in a close second. She was an excellent teacher and many of us benefited under her tutelage.

She departed peacefully but suddenly on December 4th, 2021. After 91 years of giving and loving, her heart stopped. It was finally FULL. Her faith and a Higher Power called and she answered. “Going Home” took on a special meaning for us all that day, and especially for Bea.

Bea was preceded in death by her parents, Oscar and Luella Seaberg; sisters, Vivian McCleary, Betty Daheim, and Shirley O’Connor; son, Kevin Swenson; and great grandson, Julian Kile.

She will be celebrated and remembered by her loving husband of over 70 years, Robert Clarence Swenson; her children, Scott (Valerie) Swenson, Bryan (Julie) Swenson, Pamela (Richard) Witt, Nancy (Steve Guttormson) Swenson; grandchildren, Stacie (Chris Muenster) Mariette, Douglas (Dena) Swenson, Stephanie (Andy) Kile, Mindy (Ryan) Plewacki, Christine Woolf, Bonnie (Kevin) Rosinbum, Carrie Aslagson, Jonathan Witt, Jeffrey (Veronica Lawrence) Witt; great grandchildren, Ian Mariette, Lydia Mariette, Dylan Cover, Ivy Cover, Augustus Swenson, Benjamin Swenson, Cora Kile, and Julia Kile; Harrison Plewacki; and any number of close friends and acquaintances.

Bea’s last words in exchange with her beloved husband were: “Are you happy?” She replied, “Yes, I am happy.” And who wouldn’t be, after affecting so many lives in such positive ways, and doing it so effortlessly by just being herself?

Our tears for Bea are tears of joy and by which we honor her. Our last words to her: “Goodbye, dearest Bea, you are gone from this earth, but will live in our hearts forever and NEVER be forgotten.”