WOODSTOCK, CT (October 11, 2010) – A memorial service for Gloria (Fast) Swensen, wife of retired Evangelical Covenant Church pastor Norman Swensen, will be conducted on Saturday, October 16. She died Thursday.

The service will begin at 2 p.m. in the Evangelical Covenant Church of Woodstock.

Swensen was born May 10, 1929, in Rockford, Illinois. She earned an associate degree in early childhood education from Manchester Community College and a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from Eastern Connecticut State College.

Swensen taught the hearing impaired in a program supported by the Capitol Region Education Council and served as assistant to the director. Swensen also was the founder, director, and chairman of the Sonshine Day Care Center at Trinity Covenant Church in Manchester.

She and her husband were married June 18, 1949. She said she wasn’t interested in him, however, until after he became a Christian. She had told friends, “If anyone thinks I’m going to marry one of those Swensen boys, they’ve got another thing coming.”

The couple served First Covenant Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Community Covenant Church in Calumet Park, Illinois; and Trinity Covenant Church in Manchester.

She is survived by three sons: Charles Swensen, Scott Swensen, and Curt Swensen.

Memorials may be made to Trinity Covenant Church, 302 Hackmatack St., Manchester, CT, 06040.