On Thursday, November 2, 2023, at 10 a.m., Libby Marie Connell returned “home.” For Libby, Adel, Ga., her birthplace, is just that, and she will return there for her final resting place. In her mind, this town is heaven alongside the good Lord himself.
Having grown up there, Libby desired to escape small-town America as a young 17-year-old and headed off to see the world at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, N.C., in August of 1950. There she met Billie B. Swanson, married, and started a family.
Living on a farm in Iredell County near Statesville, N.C., Libby helped tend to 100 acres while raising five children. She was active in caring and working on the farm, helping with picking beans, working tobacco, making molasses, and putting up hay. The one cow had to be milked daily, but she never learned how to do it (on purpose). As shared in Proverbs 31: 27-28, “She watched over the affairs of her household and did not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed …”
Libby later moved to the Asheville/Hendersonville areas because she loved the mountains, remaining there until her death at the age of 90.
She will be fondly remembered by many nieces and nephews for her famous cooking, especially her biscuits and apple butter. Sweetly, she opened her home, all the land, and her cooking to the “city dwellers” over many summers of their lives. Forever, they are grateful for these rich memories as are her 13 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild. Surviving are four of the five children: Charles L Swanson (wife Mary), Marie Swanson, Donna Swanson Allison (husband Mark), and William C. Swanson (wife Leslie). She was predeceased by her ex-husband, Billie B. Swanson, and her daughter, Dawn Swanson Dyer.
A graveside service will be held Tuesday, November 7, 2023, at Long Bridge Cemetery in Nashville, Ga., at 11 a.m. by the Reverend Paige Ann Miller to honor her life. All are invited. The address is 37 Cornelius Road, Nashville, GA 31639.
Purvis Funeral Home is serving the family.