Duane K. “Swede” Syverson was born on April 19, 1940, to Carrol and  Linda Syverson.

He spent his early years growing up with his older brother, Dennis, in Winona, Minn., where he attended school, sang in the church choir, and learned to play golf.

His Senior year in High School his family moved to Minneapolis, where he graduated from Robinsdale High School in 1953. He attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where he played on the Golf Team and lettered all four years. This began his passion for the sport, and he dreamed about qualifying for the PGA Tour!

Real life happened, and upon graduation from college, Swede married his first wife and he began his career in sales with Sperry Rand Corporation in Kansas City.

Soon his three children were born: Jay, Lynn and JoEllen (Joey). He spent a lot of time coaching their soccer games, but always made time for his golf game!

Eventually, the family moved to Tulsa, Okla., where he started his own business, File Systems, Inc.

In 1981 he married Kathy Syverson, the love of his life. He inherited two more children, Kristopher and Kelly. The blended family of five lived in Broken Arrow, Okla., where they enjoyed their friends and golf buddies at Broken Arrow Country Club. Swede loved to compete in all the golf tournaments there, while the kids enjoyed swimming in the pool.

It was at Broken Arrow Church of the Nazarene where Kathy and Swede first met the Lord and have served him faithfully ever since.

In 1991 Swede and Kathy moved to Plano, Texas, and attended Richardson First Church of the Nazarene where they made many lifelong friends.

In 2012 they began attending The Heights Baptist Church and were both baptized the following year. What a blessing to be part of this church fellowship! With a little encouragement from Chuck Rice, Swede began singing in the choir and they joined the Bible Boomers ABF class.

Swede loved his eight grandchildren. We were first blessed with Ashley, then came Kassy, Dillon, Connor, Matthew, Joshua, April and Austin.

He will be forever loved and cherished in the hearts of everyone who knew him! Keep on singing and swinging… until we meet again on the Heavenly shores!