Alice Swanson, secretary, homemaker, lived here 54 years
Alice McCoy Swanson of 111 Soundview Road, a Ridgefielder for more than a half century, died Wednesday, Nov. 15, at her home. She was 85 years old and the wife of the late Ernest G. Swanson.
Although she grew up a Wiltonian, Mrs. Swanson was a 1932 graduate of Ridgefield High School. She had lived on the Henderson farm in northern Wilton, a town that had no high school back then, and came to Ridgefield for her education.
She was born in Larchmont, N.Y. on March 9, 1915, a daughter of the late John and Elizabeth Glennon McCoy. She attended Huntington, N.Y., schools until she moved with her family to Wilton in 1926. She attended Wilton and Ridgefield schools, and after graduating from Ridgefield High School, attended Merrill’s Business School of Norwalk.
In the 1940s Mrs. Swanson was private secretary to Margaret Rudkin, the founder and president of Pepperidge Farm Bakery in Norwalk.
Alice McCoy met Ernest Swanson, a carpenter, on a blind date in the early 1940s, shortly before he went off to serve in the war. When he returned three years later, the two were married and he set about building their family home, one of the first houses to go up on Soundview Avenue.
“It was paid for the day they moved in,” said her daughter, Glenny Montanari of Ridgefield.
Mrs. Swanson was a homemaker most of her life and enjoyed her grandchildren, all of whom are Ridgefielders. For many years, she played cards with the groups that gathered each week at the Community Center. She also enjoyed feeding and watching birds.
Mrs. Swanson was a member of St. Mary’s Church.
Besides her daughter, Mrs. Swanson is survived by a son, Robert Swanson; a sister, Elizabeth McCoy of Ridgefield; four grandchildren, Hillary and Erica Swanson, Kelsey and Courtney Montanari.
A brother, Lawrence McCoy and a sister, Helen McCoy, predeceased her.
A Mass of Christian burial was celebrated on Saturday, Nov. 18, in St. Mary’s Church. Burial followed in St. Mary’s Cemetery.
Kane Funeral Home, 41 Catoonah Street, handled arrangements.
Contributions in Mrs. Swanson’s memory may be made to the Visiting Nurse Association, 90 East Ridge or to the Ridgefield Fire Department Ambulance Fund, 6 Catoonah Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877.