Lorella Elaine (Swenson) Swain, age 75, of Tampa, Florida, went peacefully to her heavenly home on Sept. 29, 2026.
Lorella was born on Oct. 4, 1950, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to the late Warren and Elaine (Nelson) Swenson. Lorella was a graduate of the Grantsburg Class of 1968. Lorella went on to graduate from the District One Technical Institute in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the following year. After graduation she headed to Minneapolis and found a job at the Graybar Electric Company. After working in Minneapolis for a few years, she transferred to the Graybar Electric Company in San Francisco, California, when the opportunity came up.
While working at Graybar Electric Company she met her husband, Roger Swain. They were married in Grantsburg, Wisconsin, on Sept. 18, 1977. They lived in San Mateo, California, and their only child, Amanda Christine, was born there on Sept. 21, 1980. When “Mandy” was 5 years old they moved to Tampa. Lorella was a stay-at-home mom, and she loved her precious time with her little “Manda Panda.” Later in her life, when Mandy was older and in school, Lorella went to work as a pharmacy technician. Unfortunately for Lorella, she had to quit working when her health began to decline.
As much as you love someone, you know you can’t hold onto them forever. Even though you know it is coming, it is so hard to let them go. Lorella passed away after her long journey with her illness that left her immobile. Somehow through all of this she never complained about the bad hand that she had been dealt. She was the person you called when you wanted advice. If you had a question about something, she would figure out an answer. She loved helping her family by doing research for them, especially on Amazon and eBay for those who were not as tech savvy as she was. She was a huge “Jeopardy” fan and hadn’t missed a show in years. She could answer most of the questions without even thinking about it. She was also a huge Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan. She had a large resin goose in her front yard that she would dress up according to the holidays, but during the football season the goose was always dressed up as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. When she was in good health, she and Roger would drive up to Wisconsin and stay for two weeks in the summer. Everyone in the family looked forward to those two weeks and would spend as much time with them as they could. The last few years it was just too much for them to make the trip. Thankfully, some of the siblings were able to travel to Florida in the last few years and spend some quality time with her.
Lorella will be dearly missed by her husband of 49 years, Roger; and her loving daughter, Amanda Lees. She will be greatly missed by her seven brothers and sisters who all looked up to their older sister, Stuart Swenson, Randy (Cindy) Swenson, Judy (Donny) Woltz, Brian Swenson, Joanne Swenson, Lori (Todd) Schulte and Sheri (Brian) Hacker. Her survivors also include her sister-in-law, Eleanor Iverson; her dear aunt Ilene Wood; 17 nieces and nephews; 27 great-nieces and -nephews; and four great-great-nieces and -nephews.
Lorella was preceded in death by her parents, Warren and Elaine; her mother- and father-in-law, Oscar and Louise Swain; her son-in-law, Michael Lees; brother-in-law, John Iverson; and nephew, Jeremy Swenson.
Per Lorella’s request, there will be no services.
