Loren Ernest Swanson, of North Oaks, Minnesota, passed away in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota, on March 17, 2013, following a long illness at age 89.
Born in St. Paul on August 3, 1923, to Ernest W. Swanson and Marie Peterson Swanson, he had two sisters who predeceased him: Bonnevieve Opel and Arlene Strom Braaten.
Loren graduated from Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis in 1941 and from the University of Minnesota in electrical engineering in 1944. He served in the Navy during WWII as an electronics maintenance officer, Lt. (JG), for a division of destroyer escorts in the Pacific Theater. Discharged in 1946, he received an MBA from the University of Minnesota in 1948.
He married Arlene Anderson in 1949 (d.1993) and is survived by four children Karna (Philip) Anderson, Charlene (Bruce) Bostrom, Kurt (Carla) Swanson, and Lisa (Bill) Miller, and by nine grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
He married Sally Wennberg in 1995, who survives him. They made their winter home in Fountain Hills, Arizona. For many years he had a seasonal home in Hovland.
Mr. Swanson founded Central Engineering Company (Cenco) in Minneapolis in 1949 and built test facilities for turbojet engines around the world. He sold Cenco in 1997 and retired in 1999 at age 76.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 6, 4:00 p.m. at Boutwells Landing, 5600 Norwich Pkwy, Oak Park Heights, MN 55082, in the Swanson Memorial Chapel. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation or to the Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) Foundation. Peace to his memory.
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