Jan Swart

Jan Swart was a woman who exemplified all things a wife and mother should be. She was patient, caring, and generous with her time. Her family was the center of her world, and Jan would have devoted time to her precious granddaughter, if time allowed.

The 1950s marked a quieter, more stable time in American history, especially after the turbulent 40s. It was a good time to grow up in America, and because of the Baby Boom, neighborhoods and schools everywhere were bursting at the seams with children. Jan was among those children. Born in Detroit, Michigan, on May 13, 1950, she was the younger of two daughters of Eugene and Eleanor (Gora) Colombo.

Along with her sister, Nancy, Jan enjoyed a typical childhood growing up in the quiet suburbs of Detroit. From a young age, she loved to cook, which meant the clean up duties were left to her sister. Both girls participated in the Brownies and Girl Scouts, and had the pleasure of their mother being their Troop leader. Besides being great parents, Eleanor volunteered at the St. Anselm Grade School in Dearborn Heights while Eugene, worked tirelessly for Ford Motor Company for 35 years to support his family. Jan received her education in area schools and graduated from Mercy High in 1968. With a joy for singing, she was a member of the Mercyaires Choral Group in high school, and also sang in the choir at St. Mary’s Student Chapel at the University of Michigan, where she attended college and earned her BA in Political Science.

It was on campus at U of M that Jan met Edward Swart, and they began dating. Their relationship took a turn in October 1971, when Jan’s sister, Nancy, was getting married. Jan was her maid of honor and took Ed along as her date to the wedding. Somehow, Ed, who was sitting behind the women trying to catch the bride’s bouquet at the reception, in fact, caught it as Nancy overthrew it and it landed in his lap. As fate would have it, Jan and Ed were engaged three months later and began planning their perfect outdoor wedding, complete with wedding rings they designed themselves. Their wedding day, August 12, 1972, began as a rainy day at the Nichols Arboretum in Ann Arbor, where the couple was to be married. About noon the rain stopped; and, as the couple went on to exchange their vows at about 6:00, the heavens opened up and the sun shone down on them, which they took as a sign of God’s blessing on their marriage. No wonder Jan cherished this day as one of the greatest in her life.

After saying “I do,” the newlyweds began married life together in Romulus, Michigan, and then spent a year in Chicago before settling in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, partly so Ed could finish graduate school. It was here Jan and Ed welcomed the birth of their two sons, Paul in 1975, and Mark in 1979, at the Cottage Hospital of Grosse Pointe. Shortly after Mark’s arrival, the family of four moved to Holland, Michigan, settling in a home on East 31 Street, on the spookiest day of the year - Halloween. They became friends with many of their neighbors and loved to go to the theatre at Hope College together, followed by an outing at Till Midnight.

Jan was a very loving and devoted wife and mother – her family was the focus of her life. It wasn’t until later, when she and Ed had an empty nest, that Jan started working part-time at the Herrick District Library in Holland. She loved her job and eventually became a full-time employee at the library for nine years. Since moving to Holland, Jan was a member of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church on the corner of 13th and Maple.

As a family, Jan, Ed, and the boys loved to go camping. They had converted a couple of vans into campers and took them to campgrounds all over Michigan, to the west coast, and several times to Florida to visit her parents. At home, Jan enjoyed spending her time singing, reading, and cooking. A darn good cook, Jan didn’t necessarily follow a recipe and used whatever spices happened to be in the cabinet. Unfortunately, she didn’t always remember what she used or how so she couldn’t share her successful recipes In 2004, Jan and Ed moved to a condo on a nature preserve on the north side of Holland.

Jan’s greatest joys in life were her two sons, and she took great pride in them. Paul is a CPA, and Mark is a minister in the Reformed Church of America. She unconditionally encouraged and supported them in their life endeavors and was especially happy when her son Paul married Rachelle, adding a wonderful daughter-in-law to her family. Even better was when they made her a grandmother with the birth of her precious granddaughter, Ashlyn Rose, on October 30, 2008.

Sadly, Jan was diagnosed with kidney cancer just a few weeks after Ashlyn was born and underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments. The cancer broke her back and femur and caused her to be hospitalized with pneumonia. Knowing what her future was, Jan made the decision to return home under hospice care. At the moment of her decision, the sun beamed through her window, which she saw as another sign of God’s blessing. Jan died at her home in Holland on Saturday, February 21, 2009, at the age of 58.

A loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, and grandmother, Jan will be remembered for her kind and generous nature and her deep commitment to her family.

Jan (Colombo) Swart, age 58, of Holland, a woman filled with faith and love, died Saturday, February 21, 2009, at home with her family after a painful battle with cancer. She is survived by her father, Eugene Colombo, and husband, Dr. Edward Swart, of Holland; children Paul and Rachelle Swart of Novi and Rev. Mark Swart of New Jersey; beloved granddaughter, Ashlyn Rose Swart; and sister, Nancy and Bob Plocinik of Livonia. She is also survived by in-laws Marilyn and John English of Washington, Robert and Johanna Swart of Washington, DC, Ginny and Greg Purcell of Indiana, Carol TenEyck and Jim Idema and John and JoAnn Lieffers Swart of Grand Rapids and 11 nieces and nephews.

Jan was born in Detroit, daughter of Eugene and Eleanor (Gora) Colombo, and attended St. Anselm’s Elementary and Mercy High School in metro Detroit. She attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she obtained a degree in Political Science and met her husband, with whom she shared 36½ loving years of faithful marriage. She worked before having children at Catholic Charities of Washtenaw County, Michigan, and Cook County, Illinois, and for the last ten years at Herrick District Library, where she already is missed by staff and patrons. She was a faithful follower and Booster Club representative of Holland High athletics when her sons were involved. She was a Eucharistic minister and lector at St. Francis de Sales Church in Holland.

Visitation will be at St. Francis de Sales Church, 171 West Thirteenth Street, Holland, Monday, February 23, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, February 24, at 11:00 a.m., at the church.

Jan has made an anatomical gift of her body to the University of Michigan Medical School so others may benefit from the body she no longer needs.

Memorial gifts may be given to Wings of Mercy, Hospice of Holland, or the American Red Cross of Ottawa County.

Please visit Jan’s memory page at www.lifestorynet.com where you may share a memory with her family or sign her online guest book.

Arrangements by Dykstra Life Story Funeral Homes, Inc., Northwood Chapel.