Teresa (Teri) Ann (Hamilton) Swarts, 64, died at her home in rural Lincoln, on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, of pancreatic cancer.
She was born on December 9, 1953, in Nebraska City, one of five children of Edward and Mildred (Earl) Hamilton.
She attended St. Mary’s Elementary School in Nebraska City and graduated from Lourdes Central Catholic High School. She graduated from Lincoln School of Commerce, took classes at the College of St. Mary’s in Omaha, and studied environmental science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
On Sept. 8, 1984, she was united in marriage to Jerry Joe Swarts at St. John’s Catholic Church, Lincoln.
Joe and Teri loved to travel, and took many trips with Joe’s parents. Their destination was often Florida, and eventually Joe and Teri bought a second home in Plant City where they could enjoy milder winters.
Teri worked 41 years for the state of Nebraska as a compliance specialist in the Department of Environmental Quality and retired in November, 2014. In 1985 she was named the top employee of the year and was granted an Admiralship of the Nebraska Navy by Gov. Bob Kerrey.
She and Joe loved to fly, and after he got his pilot’s license, she also attended flight school beginning in 2009. Her first solo flight was in 2013.
Teri played the clarinet in high school and enjoyed the piano as an adult. She and her brother Bob played tennis and ran together during her high school years and beyond. She also liked to snow ski, and to watch Husker football and volleyball. She enjoyed reading, art, writing, cross-stitching, and blessed loved ones with beautiful crocheted items she made. The past 30 years she was an avid “Jazzerciser, working out daily, often twice a day.
Teri rarely missed church. She was a member of St. John’s Catholic Church in Lincoln and went to St. Clement Catholic Church in Plant City.
Preceding her in death were her parents; grandparents, Harold and Gertrude (Krapp) Hamilton, and John and Ada Belle (Hull) Earl; and her father-in-law and mother-in-law Boyd and Mary Jo Swarts.
Survivors include her husband Joe; step-daughter and son-in-law Alicia and Cliff Coggins, Plant City; sister and brother-in-law Sandy and Lonnie Keene, Union; brothers and sisters-in-law, Jim and Sue Hamilton, Omaha; Bob and Lori Hamilton, Omaha; and Chris Hamilton, Orange Grove, Texas; two step-granddaughters and two step-grandsons; several nieces and nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, and a host of friends.
A rosary service is planned for Friday at St. John’s Catholic Church at 10 a.m., and a funeral mass will follow at 10:30.
Inurnment will be at Elmwood Cemetery.
Memorials may be directed to the family.