Lt. Col. Dustin Herbert Swanson, USAF, Retired
Dusty Swanson, age 94 years, peacefully passed away in his sleep on February 21, 2016. He was a resident of Colorado Springs, Colorado for 48 years and was formerly a resident of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin; Omaha, Nebraska; Biloxi, Mississippi; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; and Newfoundland, Canada.
Dusty was born on December 9, 1921 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Everett M. and Iva Nina (Neligh) Swanson. On August 14, 1944 he married Dorothy Mae Oberg in Omaha, Nebraska.
Dusty was a star athlete in several sports in high school and at Wentworth Military Academy. He was commissioned in the Army and joined the Army Air Corps at the start of WWII. He was a decorated B-24 bomber pilot in the Pacific Theater. He retired from the US Air Force in 1970 after 27 years of dedicated and exemplary service. He remained active in sports as an athlete and coach and was an avid golfer and outdoorsman.
He is survived by Dorothy, his loving wife and sweetheart of 71 years; his three sons: Dustin Herbert Jr., Richard Everett, and Robert Thomas; eight grandchildren; and ten great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his sister, Elizabeth Ann (Swanson) Pederson.
A funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, February 25, 2016 at Shrine of Remembrance “America the Beautiful” Chapel on Fountain Boulevard, Colorado Springs. Reception immediately following.
Donations in honor of Dusty may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project.