GOLDEN VALLEY, MN (November 5, 2010) – A memorial service for retired Evangelical Covenant Church minister Berner V. Swanson, 88, will be conducted at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Calvary Lutheran Church. He died Tuesday.

Swanson was born June 20, 1922, in Turlock, California. He earned an associate’s degree at North Park Junior College, a Bachelor of Arts from San Francisco State University and a Master of Divinity from North Park Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1961.

He married his wife, Harriet, on June 13, 1953.

He served Covenant churches in Kane, Pennsylvania; Stanton, Iowa; Stockton, California; Braham, Minnesota, and Waverly, Nebraska, until his retirement in 1987.

In addition to his wife of 57 years, he is survived by three children: daughters Kerstin and Karlene, and a son, Gordon.

Visitation will be observed from 6 to 8 p.m. at Kapala-Glodek-Malone Funeral Home in New Hope, and from 1 p.m. until the service begins at Calvary Lutheran.