Ray Swee

Published 12:16 am Wednesday, August 12, 2015

– Raymond D. Swee of Redmond died August 5 at Powell’s Care Home. He was 88. Ray was born on February 18, 1927, in Faribault, Minn. to Albert and Ida (King) Swee, one of six siblings. He attended Faribault schools and enlisted in the Army just before he graduated from high school in 1944.He was sent to the University of Nebraska for a year of college, before being deployed in the Army of Occupation in Japan after World War II ended. He was given an honorable discharge in November of 1946 and completed his education at Mankato State University in Mankato, Minnesota, earning a B.S. in Social Studies and Physical Education. He later completed a Master’s Degree in Teaching from Oregon State University in Corvallis.In 1948, he married Bernadine Steele, with whom he had a daughter and three sons. After her death in 1965, he married Stephanie Kirschbaum and they had one daughter. Ray taught and coached for nearly 40 years in high schools in Minnesota and Oregon. He continued to substitute for more than 20 years after he retired in 1962, filling in for teachers in the Crook County, Bend-LaPine and Redmond school districts. Ray was preceded in death by his first wife, three brothers, Richard, Frederick and James, as well as by his daughter, Cheryl Korkki and son, David Swee. He is survived by his wife, Stephanie, of Redmond, his daughter, Noelle Wood, of Ogden, Utah, and sons, Robert Swee, of San Diego, Calif. and Philip Swee, of Redmond, brother, Francis Swee, of Faribault and sister, Doris Townsend of Green Bay, Wis. He had five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. A funeral Mass will be held at noon on Friday, August 14, at St. Thomas Catholic Church in Redmond. Burial will be at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Hospice of Redmond, St. Thomas Catholic Church or The Multiple Sclerosis Society. – Raymond D. Swee – February 18, 1927 – August 5, 2015