PORT ANGELES — Rebecca Swain Gedlund, the owner of Swain’s General Store, passed away peacefully the afternoon of Christmas Day, her favorite day of the year.
She was 59.
She had been hospitalized at Olympic Medical Center for lung cancer. At her bedside were her children, Aaron, Ryan and Kasey.
A celebration of life is scheduled in the second-floor reception room at John Wayne Marina in Sequim at 1 p.m. Saturday.
“She was an incredibly strong-willed woman,” said Ryan, 26.
“The doctors said they had never seen anyone fight as hard against cancer as she did. She held on for us.”
An enthusiastic animal-lover with a broad sense of humor, she had a small farm in Sequim where she raised horses, donkeys, guinea hens, chickens, goats, dogs, cats, lizards, mice, gerbils, ferrets and other animals.
She also loved to cook and to garden, growing everything from flowers to vegetables.
She enjoyed beachcombing, walking for hours at a time, collecting sea glass and shells, and clam-digging with her cocker spaniel, Punky.
She loved to travel by car and van throughout the 48 states, Alaska and Canada with her sons, daughter and friends who were her “adopted family.”
She also oversaw the Swain’s Family Foundation, which gives thousands of dollars in charitable donations each year to organizations across the North Olympic Peninsula.
“She loved to laugh, share her life and love with the people she knew,” said Aaron, 29.
“She was always giving, willing to help anyone in need.”
Her daughter, Kasey, 25, said, “It was hard to lose her on Christmas Day, her favorite holiday of the year.
“But my brothers and I will celebrate it that much more for her in the future.”
All three children have worked at Swain’s General Store — Kasey as a checker, Aaron in the hardware department, and Ryan in sporting goods, where he continues to work today.
In a statement, they said Swain’s General Store will continue “serving the community as we have for the last 54 years. Swain’s is what it is because of our customers.
“We appreciate your support. We’re here for you and your families.
“We would like to thank you for everything.”
Their comments were echoed in a statement from Mike Mudd, Swain’s merchandise manager, on behalf of store manager Don Droz and other members of the management team:
“The Swain’s General Store family is very saddened by the loss of our owner, Becky Swain Gedlund. Becky was a wonderful lady and tremendous owner.
“Becky was always very generous and unselfish in her ownership and guidance of our family general store.
“Becky always put her employees before herself.”
Swain’s General Store was opened in Port Angeles in 1957 by Cliff Swain and his wife, Bee, as a military surplus store and soon expanded the store’s departments to serve the hardware and outdoors needs of North Olympic Peninsula customers.
After Cliff Swain died in 1995 and Bee in 1997, ownership of Swain’s Inc. passed to their two children, Gedlund and her sister, Glenda Swain Cable.
There were disagreements between the two sisters over the company’s direction.
In 2004, the Swain’s Inc. board of directors divided the company between the sisters.
Gedlund became the sole owner of Swain’s General Store.
Cable became co-owner with her husband, Dick, of two Swain’s outlets in Sequim and Port Townsend.
Those stores were renamed Swain’s Outdoor.
Blaming the poor economy and competition from “box stores,” Swain’s Outdoor in Sequim was closed in the summer of 2010.
The Port Townsend store closed last February.
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Publisher and Editor John Brewer can be reached at 360-417-3500 or at john.brewer@peninsuladailynews.com.
