Obituary of Pauline Marie Swanson

Pauline Marie Swanson, age 95, passed away January 28, 2016, following a brief illness. She was born April 19, 1920 and raised in Two Harbors, MN. She graduated from Bethesda School of Nursing in St. Paul and the Lutheran Bible Institute, Minneapolis. It was the love of her Lord and Savior that led her to serve as a Lutheran missionary from 1949 to 1965 in what is now Tanzania. In addition to her hospital nursing duties she trained many African women as nurses. She became fluent in Swahili, a language she last spoke in a conversation with a caregiver just days before her death. Following her missionary work, she continued training nurses at Swedish Hospital and Augustana Home in Minneapolis. On her retirement, she and fellow missionary friend Lois Bernhardson committed to a more than full-time schedule of Christian volunteer efforts, including service as Stephen Ministers. Pauline is survived by cousins, the nieces and nephews in the Bernhardson family who adopted her as an “honorary auntie”, and a host of friends who reached out to her or to whom she extended a welcoming hand for nearly a century. Funeral service 11 a.m. Tuesday at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 4100 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis. Visitation one hour prior. Private interment, Two Harbors, MN.