| Jill A. Swanson, 34, of Niobrara, died Dec. 24, 2009, at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D., as a result from head trauma after slipping and falling on ice.
Funeral services were Wednesday, Dec. 30, at the Niobrara High School gymnasium. Interment was in Riverview Cemetery in rural Niobrara.
Jill Arlene Metzler was born Aug. 8, 1975, in Creighton to Rick and Cindy (Holstein) Metzler. After living in Verdigre for her first year, the family moved to Niobrara. She lived in town until she was five and her family moved to a farm west of Niobrara, where she had many adventures with the neighbor’s children. When she was 10, they moved to their own farm, south of Niobrara, where she lived until she married Stacy Klabenes.
The couple moved to the Clearwater area in 1994. They had one son, Ty. The couple divorced and she and her son moved back to Niobrara. In 1999, she married Brian Swanson; the couple had twin girls, Abby and Brooke, and a son, Cole.
Mrs. Swanson’s life centered on her family and her children and the children she taught at school. She taught in many grades from 2000 until the present, and was the drama coach for the school plays.
She had attended Niobrara Schools for 13 years, and had graduated in 1993. She continued her college education at the Nebraska Indian Community College in Santee, Wayne State College and, in 2008, she had earned her master’s degree in education from Wayne State. For her graduation gift, her parents took her on a bear hunt in Canada, a lifelong dream of hers. The past summer, she and her husband went to Florida where they enjoyed parasailing and ocean fishing. She loved living in the country, her dogs, and going to the river with her children in the summer.
She is survived by her husband, Brian; children, Ty, Abby, Brooke and Cole; parents, Rick and Cindy Metzler of Verdigre; parents-in-law, Rayder and Kim Swanson of Niobrara; brothers-in-law, Jeff Swanson of Omaha, Scott and Pam Swanson of Niobrara; sister-in-law, Kate Swanson of Lincoln; one nephew; grandparents, Everett and Irma Holstein of Blair; grandmother-in-law, Betty Swanson of Niobrara; and many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
She was preceded in death by her grandparents, Calvin and Cora Metzler; and an infant brother, Kiley.
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