Obituary

Cedarhurst native Johanna Swords, 97

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Johanna Swords, a former Cedarhurst resident for nearly three decades, died Oct. 16. She was 97.

Swords, originally from Pirasens Germany, settled in Cedarhurst with her husband, Herbert, in the late 1940s, where they raised their five children, Miriam, Lillian, Timothy, Herbert A., and Ingrid.

She enjoyed orchestrating camping trips for her family, one of which was a six-week trip from New York to Utah, and back. A homemaker, Swords often welcomed friends, family from Germany, and even international students into the family home.

Friends of her children spent enough time in the house to feel like part of the family, as Joan Baldwin, Ingrid’s best childhood friend, said, “I had a difficult family situation and she just welcomed me in the family, never any judgment, just complete acceptance.”

A volunteer leader in 4-H, a youth development program, Swords taught basic skills and shared her expertise in cooking. Ingrid said her mother was a fabulous cook, and even had some of her recipes published in the South Shore Record, a local Cedarhurst newspaper.

Swords was an active member of the Lawrence United Methodist Church, especially with the United Methodist Women, a women’s faith organization that focuses on ministries with women, children, and youth, according to the mission initiatives on its website. She also participated in the Women’s Interfaith Group, an invitation-only, discussion based, and diverse women’s faith group.

After living in Cedarhurst, Swords and Herbert moved to Cincinnati, and then eventually settled in Boulder, Colorado at Frasier Meadows Retirement Community. There, Swords stayed involved in her religious practices, enjoyed art classes, concerts and creating flower arrangements for birthdays.

Funeral services were held in Colorado at Greenwood & Myers Funeral Services. “She was kind, affectionate, generous,” Ingrid said, “and an industrious woman.”

Swords is survived by her sister Annefriedel, children, Lillian, Timothy, Ingrid, Herbert A., and son-in-law, J. Timothy Riker, nine grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. Her husband Herbert, sister Hildegard, and daughter Miriam predeceased her.