Patricia Brandow Swanson

Patricia “Pat” Brandow Swanson passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Saturday, May 11, 2024, at her home in Ithaca, New York. Pat was the loving wife of Roger Swanson and devoted mother to Glenn Swanson and Elin Swanson Katz. Born to Elwood and Alice Brandow, Pat was raised on a dairy farm in Windham, New York, along with her sister Betty.  She attended Syracuse University, where she met Roger, the love of her life. She and Roger married on June 7, 1958. A passionate teacher and educator, Pat founded Bethlehem Preschool in Glenmont, New York, with her friend and business partner Eleanor Howell, the first daycare center in Albany County, in 1975. The Preschool thrives to this day.

Pat was dedicated first and foremost to her family. She loved family meals and was an excellent cook. She enjoyed traveling with Roger and family vacations in New Hampshire. She adored her children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces, and extended family. She was passionate about learning and earned her Master’s in Reading from SUNY Albany later in life. She and Roger were expert gardeners known for their flowers and vegetable garden. She was a prolific reader her whole life and delighted in talking books. She was also a devoted Mets fan, which didn’t help her health. Pat loved sunshine, warm weather, and Florida, and her family hopes she is now basking on a beach with her friends and family that have gone before, including her parents, her sister and brother, her brothers- and sisters-in-law Carl and Shirley Swanson and Ralph and Chris Swanson, cousin George Hirai, and so many others.

Pat is survived by her husband of 66 years, Roger; her son Glenn Swanson and daughter-in-law Vicky (King) Swanson; her daughter Elin Swanson Katz and son-in-law Steven L. Katz; her grandchildren Shanna Swanson Battin and Patrick Battin, Zachary Katz, Justin Katz, and Tori Swanson; brother-in-law Sam Swanson and sister-in-law Joyce Gallimore; brother-in-law Thomas Berg; and many beloved nephews, nieces, cousins, and extended family.  

Services will be held on Saturday, June 1, 2024 at 4:00 pm at the Lansing United Methodist Church, 32 Brickyard Road, Lansing, New York, with a reception immediately following at the home of Glenn and Vicky Swanson. There will be a private burial later this summer in Ashland, New York. 

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for contributions to the Arthritis Foundation, a disease Pat bravely battled her whole life, in Pat’s memory via the link below. The family wishes to thank her caregiver Amy Taylor for her loving attention at the end of Pat’s life.