Swails, Marilyn Jean

Marilyn Jean Swails, 85, longtime resident of Coralville, died Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, under the compassionate care of Mercy Hospice. Funeral services will be held 10:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 1, at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City, with burial to follow at Memory Gardens Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. today at the funeral home.

Marilyn Jean Carter was born Sept. 5, 1927, in West Liberty, Iowa, the daughter of Alfred and Gladys (Watkins) Carter. She graduated from West Liberty High School in 1945. She attended Mercy School of Nursing in Iowa City. Marilyn was united in marriage to Rex D. Swails on July 29, 1947, at First United Methodist Church in Iowa City. The couple soon made Coralville their home, first on 10th avenue and later on 20th Avenue where they still resided. Marilyn spent many years in the home caring for her family, especially the needs of their son, Loren.

She was a member of the Coralville United Methodist Church, Arc, and the Coralville Library.

Her family includes her husband, Rex; son and his wife, Dennis and Clara Swails of Solon; daughter and her husband, Jennifer Swails and John Wenger of Nashville, Tenn.; three grandchildren, Tracy Swails and Cindy Green, Shawn Swails and Bryndon Wenger; three great-grandsons, Robert, Andrew and Benjamin Swails; her brothers, Robert Carter (Dorothy) of Melbourne, Fla., and Alfred Carter Jr. “Bud” of West Liberty; and sister, Donna Carter Johnson and Wendell of Springfield, Mo.

She was preceded in death by her parents; son, Loren Swails; and a brother in infancy.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in her memory to Mercy Hospice of Iowa City.

Online condolences may be sent for her family through the Web at www.gayandciha.com.

Published Jan. 31, 2013 in The Gazette