Garry E. Swanberg, 66, of Sioux City, passed away Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019, at his home surrounded by his family.
A celebration of life service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Waterbury Funeral Service of Sioux City. A visitation with family will begin one hour prior to service time Saturday at the funeral home. An Irish Wake will be at 7 p.m. Friday at Dakota Rose, 103 Military Road, North Sioux City, S.D.
Garry was born in Sioux City on Sept. 6, 1953, to Gerrald and Elizabeth (Guernsey) Swanberg. He graduated from Central High School in 1972. Garry was united in marriage to the love of his life, Linda Hodges, on Sept. 13, 2003.
Garry was an extremely hard worker and gave 200% to anything he did. He was a member of the carpenters union. Garry enjoyed going on vacations, and especially enjoyed the trip to Hawaii. He loved landscaping, playing cards with family and friends, gardening, and all of his pets. He liked requesting his sisters to make his favorites: lasagna, pork chops and desserts. Watching movies with his sweetheart was a favorite pastime. He also liked playing tennis and ping pong with his twin brother Larry.
Spending time with family was the most important aspect of Garry's life. He loved his stepchildren and adored his grandchildren. Any celebration of holidays with the family was all about the kids.
Those left to cherish his memory are his wife, Linda Swanberg; stepson, J.J. Hodges; brothers, Larry (Ava) Swanberg, Jerry (Anita) Swanberg, and Tully (Jan) Swanberg; sisters, Vicky Hollingshead and Melissa (Mike) Crain; grandchildren, Zoe-Ella, Jaden, Serenity, Isabella, and Roxanne; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Garry was preceded in death by his parents; stepdaughter, Sara Hodges; and sister-in-law, Ruth Swanberg.
The family would like to give a special thank you to Christina Lethcoe, the staff at Hospice of Siouxland, and the Hoopingarner and Anderson families.
It seems as we all grow older we begin to have those around us now and in the past cross over to the other side of Life! Times like this are hard to understand and difficult to deal with on day to day basis. Garry an Larry would always be together it seems. And they both were used to me saying “Hey, Thanks for the ride home LARRY, and He would say “GERRY”! And visa versa, as twins that is expected I guess! He will be missed by all of us in the class of 72’ Sorry for your and our loss Linda and Family!
Dang! Mark nailed it, I never could tell the 2 apart. I had a lot of fun (partying, playing baseball, football, etc.) with those boys growing up. Heard through the grapevine (Cook, Cosier & Coyle) recently that Garry was sick, but didn't know exactly what was wrong; was going to try & hook up with him during my annual visit but didn't get around to it. It's kinda odd how you just loose track of old friends after HS as you begin your journey in life, but I guess that's just the way it is. Seeya on the other side brother.
Mark Hanna
It seems as we all grow older we begin to have those around us now and in the past cross over to the other side of Life! Times like this are hard to understand and difficult to deal with on day to day basis. Garry an Larry would always be together it seems. And they both were used to me saying “Hey, Thanks for the ride home LARRY, and He would say “GERRY”! And visa versa, as twins that is expected I guess! He will be missed by all of us in the class of 72’ Sorry for your and our loss Linda and Family!
Steven J. Raher
I am very sorry to hear of Garry's passing. He was a good and loyal friend at Herbert Hoover and Central.
Bruce A. Pearson
Dang! Mark nailed it, I never could tell the 2 apart. I had a lot of fun (partying, playing baseball, football, etc.) with those boys growing up. Heard through the grapevine (Cook, Cosier & Coyle) recently that Garry was sick, but didn't know exactly what was wrong; was going to try & hook up with him during my annual visit but didn't get around to it. It's kinda odd how you just loose track of old friends after HS as you begin your journey in life, but I guess that's just the way it is. Seeya on the other side brother.