Daily Sitka Sentinel

Kathy Swanberg

Services have been scheduled for Kathy Lynn Swanberg, a Sitka resident since 1978.
Church services will be held 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23, at the church Kathy attended, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 105 Shotgun Alley. A celebration of life will follow, at the Sitka High School commons.
 Kathy died of a suspected sudden cardiac arrest in her home in Sitka. She was 52.
She was born Feb. 6, 1960, in Cedar  City, Utah. After graduating in 1978 from Evergreen High School in Seattle Wash., she spent the summer in Pelican where she worked at the General Store. That fall she moved to Sitka where she went to work for  Harry Race. She met Eric Swanberg and got a job as a recreational assistant at the Sitka Pioneers Home before she settled down as a stay-at-home mom. As soon as all of her children were in school, she started as a secretary at Blatchley Middle School, and occasionally as a part-time cashier and accountant at AC Lakeside.
Kathy Swanberg was a wonderful, caring person, her family said. As a mother she was always ready to lend a helping hand to all of her family. She often volunteered her time to help others in need or offered support to the community.
She loved gardening, whether in her own garden or in the community one at Blatchley, and enjoyed walking out at Starrigavan with her family.
She was the hostess of many beautiful dinner parties, and recently started making scrapbooks for her children and birth family.
Kathy had a passion for life and a joyful spirit that all could feel while in her presence.
Kathy’s life is celebrated by her children: Cerisa of Carbondale, Colo.; Dylan of Sitka; Sheila, a student at UAF Fairbanks; and Alanna of Marco Island, Fla.
Also surviving are her father William H. Ady of Washington, and her siblings, Linda Ady of Pelican, Rodney Ady of Sitka, Gerald Ady of Washington, Curtis Ady of Utah, Susan Ady of Ellensburg, Wash., and Rory Ady of Kent, Wash..
Many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends, also survive. She was married to Eric Swanberg of Homer, Alaska, for 26 years.
Kathy’s mother, Ardella Ady, passed away in April 2006.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Swanberg Family Memorial Fund at Wells Fargo for memorial items, including a plaque at the Blatchley community garden.