Janet Louise Swan, 75, died suddenly at Skagit Valley Hospital, Mount Vernon, on Feb. 18, 2008. She was an only child, born to Albert and Florence (Larson) Peterson on Nov. 27, 1932, in Fergus Falls, Minn.
Janet was raised in Minnesota. One of her fondest memories in high school was being crowned homecoming queen for her class in St. Cloud. Following graduation, Janet attended college and obtained her teaching certificate and at age 19, she began teaching elementary school at Cloquet, Minn.
Janet attended graduate school in Boulder, Colo. She attended a picnic sponsored by the Westminster Foundation and met a young Presbyterian pastor, Allan Swan. On June 6, 1958, she and Allan were married in Boulder.
Janet and Allan began a life together in Boulder. In 1962, she and Allan were called to a new church development in Fort Collins, Colo. Eight years later, he accepted a call to serve as senior pastor of the Lincoln Presbyterian Church in Stockton, Calif., where she continued to serve as a minister’s wife. From Stockton, they moved in 1981 to start the Covenant Presbyterian Church of Boise, Idaho. Their final stops were to churches in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Janet always took an active role in the church choirs at each of the churches they served in addition to the myriad duties required of a pastor’s wife and mother of four.
Janet was a loving wife and a skilled seamstress and was very artistic. She also enjoyed visiting garage sales learning through classes and traveling.
Janet is survived by her husband Allan at the family home in Oak Harbor; four children, Jennifer Moyer and husband Harvey of Conway, David Swan and wife Sandra Canepa-Swan of Seattle, Kimberly Ann Sosky and husband J.R. of Monterey, Calif., and Rebecca Lynn Vahle and husband Mike of Littleton, Colo.; and seven grandchildren, Katie and Nicolas Moyer, Hannah and Jacob Swan, and Brianna, Alex and Joseph Vahle.
Celebration of Life services were held Feb. 22 at the Oak Harbor Lutheran Church with Rev. Jay Decker officiating. Cremation was held with private family inurnment to follow at a later date. Arrangements are entrusted to Burley Funeral Chapel, Oak Harbor.
