Donald Swanson

NAUGATUCK- Mr. Donald Arthur Swanson, 81, of 36 Fuller St., passed away early Wednesday morning April 14, 2010, at his home. He was the husband of Theresa M. (Sulkoski) Swanson.

Mr. Swanson was born in Waterbury, June 20, 1928, a son of the late Arthur and Esther (Anderson) Swanson and was a lifelong Naugatuck resident. He was a 1946 graduate of Naugatuck High School and a graduate of the Ward School of Electronics in Hartford. He was a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War. He served as a Corporal with the H & S Company 1902nd Battalion. He was awarded the Korean Service Medal and the UN Service Medal. He was a retired Technical Engineer with ABS Lighting Co. of Berlin, and retired in 1988 after 10 years of service. He previously was employed with Ifranor Corp. also of Berlin, where he had worked for over 20 years. He was a member of the Hillside Covenant Church and was active on many of their Committees. He had served on the Diaconate and following his retirement had served as the Church Custodian for several years. He was a member of Post 1946, Veterans of Foreign Wars, a member of the Naugatuck YMCA, participating in the Arthritic Swimming Group and had been active with the John Caskey Memorial Art Class at the Naugatuck Senior Center.

Besides his wife of over 53 years, he leaves his children and their spouses ; Joan Kimball and her husband Robert of Rocky Hill, Phillip Swanson and his wife, Laurie of Spokane, Wash., Janet Smith and her husband Robert of Durham, Kerry Swanson and his wife Stacie of Southington, and Mark Swanson and his wife Lisa of Beacon Falls; on brother, Clifford Swanson and his wife Eleanor of Woodbury and Florida; one sister Sandi Longo and her husband Joseph of Barefoot Bay, Fl. and 11 grandchildren, Tori, Alexa, David, Daniel, Joshua, Sara, Ryan, Sean, Emma, Jennifer and Erik. He was predeceased by a sister Shirley Campagna.

His funeral will be held on Saturday April 17th at 10:15 am from the Alderson Funeral Home of Naugatuck, 201 Meadow St. and proceed to the Hillside Covenant Church, 100 Hillside Ave., Naugatuck for services at 11 am. Burial with full military honors will be in St. James Cemetery, Cross St., Naugatuck. Friends may call at the funeral home on Friday April 16th from 4 to 7 pm.

Members of the Naugatuck Veterans Council will meet at the funeral home Friday evening at 6:30pm In Lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Swanson Scholarship Fund of the Naugatuck High School Alumni Assoc., P.O. Box 474, Naugatuck, 06770-0474 or to the Hillside Covenant Church, 100 Hillside Ave., Naugatuck, 06770