Florence Julia Brown Swain

Florence Julia Brown Swain, 100, died Jan. 15, 2022, at the EagleCrest senior home in Roseville, Minn., where she had lived for ten years.

Florence was born Dec. 10, 1921, in Albion, NY to Walter Leroy Brown and Theta Hakes Brown, and grew up nearby on her parents’ farm. At the age of 16 she graduated as salutatorian of her Holley High School class. She then earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Rochester, and later an M.A. from the University of Bridgeport.

She lived in Darien, Conn., from 1951 to 2005, where Florence and Rodney were founding members of Boulder Ridge, and in Pepperell, Massachusetts, until 2012. In the 1960s Florence taught history at Stamford High School.  She went beyond classwork to enhance the learning experience. As advisor to the school’s International Relations Club, for example, Florence took students to observe a United Nations General Assembly meeting.

In the 1970s, Florence enjoyed living in the Netherlands and England while her husband was employed in Europe. Florence worked to advance the education and equality of women, especially through the American Association of University Women, the Darien Community Association, and the Unitarian Universalist Society in Stamford.

Florence donated her body to the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Anatomy Bequest Program to aid in education and research. Florence’s family will assemble, when possible, to celebrate the life of this generous woman.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Rodney T. Swain, and is survived by her children: Walter Swain (Margaret Byrne Swain), Patricia Swain Rice (Gregory Rice), and Edward Swain (Mary Keirstead); grandchildren, Heather Swain, Melissa Swain (William P. Longstreth), Meghan Rice-Frades (Andrew Frades), Katherine Rice (Brian Burns), John Swain (Jennifer Brentrup), and Daniel Swain; and great-grandchildren: Lee Rice-Frades, William E. B. Longstreth, and Maeve Burns.