Covenant News

Services Held for Former Supt. Harry Swanson

JAMESTOWN, NY (May 2, 2000) - Funeral services for former Great Lakes Conference Supt. Harry Swanson were held May 1 at First Covenant Church here. Swanson, 83, died following an extended illness.

Swanson was born in Warren, Pennsylvania, and attended Bethlehem Covenant Church. He was superintendent of the former Middle East Conference beginning in 1965 and helped merge that conference with the Michigan Conference two years later. He continued to serve as superintendent in what is now called the Great Lakes Conference until 1982. He managed Covenant Manor in Jamestown and served as interim pastor at First Covenant Church.

"He was an unassuming, wonderful person who never drew attention to himself," said David S. Dahlberg, Great Lakes Conference superintendent and a former pastor of First Covenant Church in Jamestown. "He was a devout, capable pastor and significant leader," Dahlberg continued. "He had been chair of the Board of World Mission, chaired the Superintendents Council and the East Coast Conference, and his leadership gifts were apparent to his peers," Dahlberg noted.

A graduate of North Park Junior College in Chicago, Swanson was ordained a Covenant minister in 1946 after attending North Park Theological Seminary. He began full-time ministry at First Covenant Church in Rockford, Illinois, after serving briefly in Sheffield and Scandia, Pennsylvania, and Tacoma, Washington.

Following seven years at Mission Covenant Church in Paxton, Illinois, he served as pastor of Bethany Covenant Church in New Britain, Connecticut, for 12 years before assuming his first position as superintendent.

Swanson is survived by his wife of 55 years, Elaine, along with two children, Craig and Kari, and five granddaughters. It is suggested that memorials be directed to Mission Meadows Bible Camp, P.O. Box 42, Dewittville, NY, 14728, or First Covenant Church, 520 Spring St., Jamestown, NY, 14701.

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