Karen was born in Lawton, Oklahoma on March 21, 1935. Youngest daughter of Edward and Helen Jones Rasmussen, sister to Richard and Evelyn. Karen moved to Panama when she was five because her dad was working on the Panama Canal. She lived in Panama until the age of 15. Karen then moved to Houston where she went to high school and met her husband Jim. Jim was a navigator in the United States Air Force and they were stationed in Kansas, Riverside, and Merced, before finally retiring at Farichild in Spokane. In 1967, they moved to the Spokane Valley, where they raised their family. Karen was a strong-minded woman, loving mother. Karen loved to garden, travel with Jim, and was a member of the Mormon Church.
Karen passed on February 5, 2020 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Karen is survived by her husband of 65 years, James Thomas Swinney, and sons David (64), Rick (63), and Jim (62), four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.