Myles Swanson, 93, of Thief River Falls, died Saturday, November 8, 2008 at Meritcare Northwest Campus.

Funeral services will be at 2 PM Thursday, November 13, 2008 at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, rural Oklee, MN with Rev. Jonathan Dodson officiating. Burial will follow at Ebenezer Church Cemetery. Military honors will be provided by the Plummer American Legion Honor Guard.

Visitation will be 5 " 8 PM, Wednesday, November 12, 2008 with a 7:00 PM prayer service at Johnson Funeral Service in Thief River Falls, MN with Rev. Frank Ehling officiating. Visitation will also be held for one hour prior to the funeral at church.

Myles Swanson was born on October 14, 1915 in Deer Park Township, Pennington County, Minnesota the son of Sam and Caroline (Skeie) Swanson. He was baptized and confirmed into the Lutheran faith and was a member of Ebenezer Lutheran Church.

Myles worked for a short time in Seattle, WA at Boeing Aircraft until he was called to serve in the United States Army during World War II. He served from June 1942 until September 1945 of which 25 months were spent as prisoner of war in Germany.

He was united in marriage to Bertine Larson in 1954 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Plummer, MN. The couple farmed and raised their family in Mayfield Township, Pennington County, Minnesota. Myles worked at the sugar beet factory in East Grand Forks for a few years and at Arctic Enterprises in Thief River Falls where he retired from in 1981.

He loved music, especially old time gospel and in later years reading was his pastime.

Survivors include his wife Bertine of Thief River Falls; sons, David (Esther) Swanson of Fox River Grove, Il, Duane Swanson of Fargo, ND; and four grandchildren, Sam, Sarah, Justin and Lindsay Swanson.

He is preceded in death by his parents; 2 brothers, George and Lloyd; 3 sisters, Myrtle, Alvena and Irene.