Mary "Maridee" Swanson

Mary “Maridee” LaDeene Swanson, age 75, of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, passed away Saturday, November 15, 2025, at The Residency in Scottsbluff. A Rosary will be recited beginning at 9:45 a.m., followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, November 22, 2025, at Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Harrison, Nebraska, with Fr. Arul Raj Innaiah as Celebrant. Inurnment will follow at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Harrison. Memorials may be made to Potter’s Wheel Ministries in Scottsbluff. The service will be livestreamed and recorded to Maridee’s obituary page viewable at www.reverencefuneralparlor.com.

Maridee was born on September 2, 1950, in Crawford, Nebraska, to John and Mary Lou (Wasserburger) Federle. She was raised in a large and loving extended family. Maridee loved recalling Sunday meals and holidays with her parents, siblings, grandparents, great-aunts and uncles, aunts and uncles, and cousins. Her own children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews joined these memories as years passed. Maridee attended school at Harrison Grade School and graduated from Sioux County High School in Harrison. She maintained life-long friendships with many schoolmates and people in town. Maridee took college courses at Loretto Heights College in Denver, CO, the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY, and Chadron State College in Chadron, NE. She never consolidated her college hours into a degree but rather a mosaic of varied interests and skills.

Her children were the most important people in her life. She raised a son, Timothy John, and was the life-long caretaker and advocate for her daughter, Mary Katherine “Kassi”. Maridee loved being with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and watching them grow. She was very artistic, turning her hand at many visual and fabric arts. One of her favorite creative skills was quilting. She has wrapped her family and friends in beautifully quilted gifts of love. Maridee enjoyed her quilting network of friends and loved sharing ideas and techniques as well as many trips to the fabric stores. Many benefited from her teaching of quilting and card making.

Maridee assisted her family in all aspects of their livestock auction, ranching and farming business. She worked as a correspondent/photographer for local and regional newspapers, managed the swimming pool and taught many local children to swim, owned and managed a bed and breakfast, took in high school boarders needing a “town home” during the school year, and worked numerous retail and service jobs. Maridee was passionate about many causes and volunteered her time advocating for them. She fondly called herself a “hippie-chick”.

Survivors include her son, Tim (LeAndra) Swanson; grandchildren, Noah Vogel, Anona, Alyssa, Evan, Brendan, and Zac Swanson; great-grandchildren, Josiah and Isa Swanson; daughter, Kassi Swanson; siblings, Andy (Holly) and Pat Federle; nephew, Max (Nicole) Federle; niece, Meggan Federle; great-nephew, Ezra Jackson; and cousins, Becky Law, Jessie (Chad) RoBards and children, and TJ Boyd and children.

She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Mary Lou Federle; grandparents, Harry and Mary Wasserburger; aunts, Millie Wasserburger and Roberta (Robert) Shockley; grandparents, Max and Mabel (Anderson) Federle; and uncles, Kenneth and Jesse Federle.