Swensen, Marion

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) —Marion Hunter Swensen passed away at his home on December 7, 2024, with “Smith” by his side supporting him to the end. Just prior to his passing while enjoying what they loved, watching sports on TV, Marion and Carol told each other “I love you” in a beautiful moment of peace and grace.

Marion was born on January 6, 1948, to Marion Sherman Swensen and Zella LaVerna Hunter in Twin Falls, Idaho. He was the youngest of 5 with three brothers and one sister. Marion met Carol Eileen Smith while attending Brigham Young University. They were married and sealed in the Salt Lake City Temple on April 2, 1971. They have 5 children, 15 grandchildren, and 1 great-grandchild. Brent Swensen (Madeline and Sherman), Phillip Swensen married to Autumn (Brody, Aubrey, Porter, Hailey, and Brock), Craig Swensen married to April (Preston, London, Jackson, Brooklyn, and Boston), Casey Swensen married to Kacey (Atticus, Brooks, and Zella), and JoAnna Swensen (Grits and Oakley). Marion was preceded in death by both his parents, his two brothers, Jerry and Richard, and JoAnna’s beloved cat, Grits.

Marion was always happy to tell stories from his childhood. He grew up in the family grocery business alongside his mom and dad and his siblings. He always said being part of a Mom and Pop business was like having cows; you have to get up every day to milk them, and it never ends. He had great memories of doing 4-H and showing his grand champion Gernsey cows. Even though it had started on shaky ground with a last-place showing his first year, his mom refused to let her baby boy lose, so she did all the research to make sure he was grand champion every year going forward. He spent many hours out at the “farm” with his Collie Lassie while riding his paint horse, Penny. His mom had said the hardest thing she had to do was write Marion a letter while he was serving his mission, letting him know that Lassie had died. Even from when he was in elementary school, Lassie would go to Bickle before the final bell rang so they could run home together and play. Marion wasn’t always clear on details, but he may have instigated a riot at some point in elementary school, been a part of a cattle wrestling racket, fighting brush fires at 3 am-not as his girlfriends house as Zella suspected, and usually in the middle of all the fun. If anyone ever reached out to his mom about his antics, she would sternly reply, “Not my Marion; he is my sweet baby boy”. He loved going on all these adventures with one of his best friends from childhood, John Stokes.

After graduating Twin Falls High School, he was called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Argentina. Marion was always a pragmatist, and nothing ever offended him or bothered him. He was struggling to learn Spanish, so they had President Hinckley, who was an Apostle at the time, meet with him and see if he would be okay changing his mission to the Birmingham, England Mission. Naturally, he was, and President Hinckley asked if he wouldn’t mind taking a package over to their son, Clark, so they wouldn’t have to pay the postage, and of course, he was happy to do it. He always had positive things to say about his mission and the people of England. His Mission President helped him continue to develop his testimony. Marion’s attitude was, “If I work hard enough and stay busy, the Lord will bless us, and we will get His work done.” He maintained this philosophy for all his life.

Before his mission, he attended Rick’s in Rexburg for one semester and then transferred to Brigham Young University when he returned from his mission. He met many lifelong friends while at BYU. Most importantly, he met Carol, an energetic girl from the South who he always said knew how to wear her minny skirts just right to show off her amazing legs. They quickly fell in love and were married in the Temple. Marion always referred to Carol as “Smith”, which was her maiden name, and she would affectionately in return call him “Swens”. Marion loved Carol’s parents and family, and though they always reminded him he was a Westerner, he never broke his promise to Imogene that Carol would come home every summer with the kids to visit. The two of them made this work no matter what the circumstances were. Like all of us Westerners, we could never understand what any of them were saying, and this made for some hilarious interactions with Marion and Carol’s family. Marion and Carol both loved being active and playing sports when they were young, and they did a lot of this while at BYU. After a short time, Marion and Carol were expecting their first child, Brent. Zella, Marion’s mother, was sick at this time, and she knew she didn’t have a lot of time. Like always, she needed to take care of her baby boy Marion, so she assembled Marilyn and Helen and expressed her concern for Carol’s fitness as a mother based on her preferring to be out doing and not necessarily home-making, so she made them promise they would watch over Carol and always make sure Marion was taken care of—which they did.

With their diplomas in hand and their young family in tow, they moved back to Twin Falls to join the family grocery business with Jerry and Richard. He enjoyed working with his brothers and all the other people that ever put on the Swensen’s apron. There are countless stories of the people he loved working with, the customers he helped out, and the vendors he built a relationship with. He worked in the stores for pretty much his entire life. He never complained and somehow always made payroll. From time to time, a customer would ask Marion if he would come do a funeral for a parent or uncle that they were pretty sure was baptized and they would appreciate a “Mormon” funeral, and of course, he would always do it and usually provide the ham. Because he was a man of integrity and always his genuine self, people from all walks of life would seek him out and rely on him. It was always fun to work with him, and we as a family would always run into people that knew him from the stores and loved and appreciated him. There were so many people like Grandma Thornock that only shopped with Marion because he would help them with anything, even carry out their groceries and load them up. He loved to play racquetball on his lunch breaks and was always up to do something fun.

Marion was the best kind of dad because he loved our mother unconditionally and always showed it, and he always would do anything for his kids. He would always say stuff like everyone thinks their kids are special or unique, but the truth is all kids are average. Then he would pause and say, “Except my kids, they are in fact the best.” He was always there to support you and help you in any way you needed, but it was up to us to make our own path and make our own mistakes. He would get a new pair of work pants for Christmas and maybe a few shirts, but he never overdid it so us kids could have everything. He was never too proud to drive an Isuzu pup with 400,000 miles because it worked, and that is all he needed. He was always coaching our teams and pushing us to be our best. He worked a lot and always made sure we felt loved and were provided for. He would just defer to Carol and knew she would just figure it out and make sure everyone had everything they needed while he headed back to work. He was a great teacher and would always take the time to give you whatever knowledge or experience he had.

Marion served in a lot of different callings in the Church and was always willing to serve. We saw him on the stand as young kids with Bishop Dixon and heard his great talks when he was on the high council. He would send letters to us and all the nephews and nieces that were always so helpful and entertaining in helping us as missionary trying to stay engaged. He was especially good at making sure he was a dependable home teacher and companion. He attended his meetings and did what was asked and never complained.

He lived a full life. He was always honest and had integrity. He was willing to express gratitude for his posterity and all that he had and didn’t worry about what he didn’t have. He was a great friend, son, sibling, father, and husband.

He will be missed. We will all miss hearing him yell “Smith” from the back or if he had a real emergency, “Carol”. Carol will especially miss all the laughter and banter they shared. He was a kind man that was willing to make everyone laugh and be happy while making sure he got done what needed to be done.

We love you, Dad, and will always be grateful for the man you are.

Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m. Friday, December 13, 2024 at the Twin Falls 15th Ward Chapel 2085 South Temple Dr, Twin Falls, Id 83301. Viewing and Visitation for Family and Friends will be held from 6-8:00 p.m. Thursday, December 12, 2024 and for one hour prior to the services at the church. Services will conclude with burial in Sunset Memorial Garden under the direction of Joel Heward Hansen Mortuary.

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