Fredna Joy Swan

Graveside services for Fredna Joy Swan, 72, of Alpine, Wyoming, formerly of Lufkin, will be held Monday, February 13, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. in the Garden of Memories Memorial Park with Reverend Stephen Lantis officiating.

Our beloved mother and friend, Fredna Joy Swan, passed away peacefully in her sleep Friday, February 3, 2017.

Fredna was born March 10, 1944 in Lufkin, Texas to Fred Lee and Thelma Louise (McGilberry) Null. As their only child, from her first breath she was her parents’ pride and joy. Fredna attended elementary school and one year of junior high in Woodville, Texas before the family returned to Lufkin where she attended the 8th grade at Lufkin Jr. High. Fredna’s smile and wit made her instantly loved by all and she quickly won favor with her new classmates who crowned her the Lufkin Jr. High May Queen that year. With the move back to Lufkin, Fredna also became an active member of the Girl Scouts Troop #72 from 1957-1962 making many long lasting friendships.

Fredna graduated with honors from Lufkin High School in 1962. The following fall she began school at the North Texas State University in Denton, Texas where she was a member of the Alpha Delta Pi Sorority and studied for two years before transferring to Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas to complete her studies closer to the love of her life, Marcus Edison Swan, Jr. Majoring in English and Biology, Fredna graduated with a BA Degree from Stephen F. Austin in 1966.

Fredna and Mark were married in a candlelight ceremony in Lufkin, Texas Saturday, August 20, 1966 in a wedding that made the front page of The Lufkin Daily News social section. Fredna would teach school for a year in Lufkin before giving birth to the couple’s only child, Gregory Kevin Swan December 6, 1968. Fredna’s greatest joy came from being a mother and homemaker. She could always be found proudly attending little league baseball and high school football games cheering on Greg’s latest team endeavor. During this time Fredna was also active in the First Christian Church and what is now the Jr. League of Lufkin.

Fredna’s friends and family have always admired her courage and relish of life in the face of such adversity. Despite such a delightful beginning, after suffering from an aneurysm in 1971 that left her with partial paralyses, Fredna endured and overcame many years of ill health. She mastered the residual effects of this condition with much grace and composure. It was this perseverance that helped her beat breast cancer in the early 2000s as well. When her health began to falter in 2015 Fredna moved away from Texas for the first time in her life to Alpine, Wyoming where she resided with her son Greg and his wife Tara Ann until the time of her passing.

Fredna is preceded in death by her beloved husband, Mark Swan, Jr. (March 20, 1994); her parents, Fred Lee and Thelma Louise (McGilberry) Null; and brother-in-law, Richard Abe Swan.

Fredna is survived by her son and wife, Greg and Tara Ann Swan of Alpine, Wyoming; granddaughter, Meaghan Joy Swan of Orem, Utah; aunt, Sybil Self of Lufkin, Texas; cousins, Roger and Terri Self of Lufkin, Texas and Billie and Doug Byrum of Nacogdoches, Texas; sister-in-law, Sheila Swan of Lufkin, Texas; brothers-in-law and wives, Davy and Carolyn Swan of Lufkin, Texas and Ed and Donna Swan of Dallas, Texas; as well as her nieces and nephews.

Honorary pallbearers will be Davy Swan, Ed Swan, Roger Self, Doug Byrum, Steve Roper, Duncan Garner, Dallas Warren, and Kidd Ray Warren.

The family will welcome friends and loved ones from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Sunday evening at Carroway Funeral Home.

Memories and condolences may be added at www.carrowayfuneralhome.com .

Carroway Funeral Home, Lufkin, directors.