Dudley William Swedberg of Saint Paul passed away on Saturday, June 28, 2025, at the age of 96 years. He is now home and at peace with the love of his life, June.
Dudley was born October 19, 1928, in Henning, Minnesota, the older son to Fred and Trudy Swedberg. Dudley's father was a Swedish Baptist minister, so the family moved often within Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin. When the family lived in Door County, Wisconsin, Dudley worked on a fishing boat. (Much to Dudley's dismay, that fishing boat is on display at a museum in Ellison Bay.) In 1943, Dudley's father passed away when he was a teenager. Dudley moved to Minneapolis, and, during WWII, he worked on the streetcars. Dudley graduated from Roosevelt High School.
In 1948, Dudley joined the U.S. Coast Guard and was posted to electronics school in New London, Connecticut by his commanding officer Alex Haley, the author of Roots. While in New London, Dudley met his dearest, June, and on August 19,1950, they married. Sixteen years later, they welcomed their son, Rich.
They lived in Connecticut while Dudley finished his active duty with the Coast Guard. In 1952, Dudley brought his bride back to the Midwest. He enrolled at the University of Minnesota, moved to Chicago for an engineering position at Western Electric and further studies at Northwestern,
and finally moved back to complete his BA at the University of Minnesota in 1957. Dudley began his long career as a technical writer at Control Data in 1959. He was admitted to the patent bar as part of that job and worked on supercomputer design teams and in administration. Dudley was also in the US Army Reserve, reaching the rank of Sergeant Major and receiving the Meritorious Service Medal. When he and June "retired" in 1988, they moved to California's Silicon Valley, where he worked for Amdahl/Fujitsu. Ten years later they returned to Minnesota to actually retire!
All in all, Dudley and June lived in: Groton, CT; Minneapolis, MN; Cicero, IL; Deephaven, MN; Alexandria, VA; Chippewa Falls, WI; Bloomington, MN; San Jose, CA; Princeton, MN; Eagan, MN; Lilydale, MN; Inver Grove, MN; and finally in St. Paul, MN. That list is possibly missing a
couple of locations!
Dud and June were the kindest couple and made friends everywhere they went. They were both avid readers - often giving each other books at Christmas. Dud also enjoyed helping out with church parish activities and running marathons (at one, he was surprised to be getting so many
cheers, but it turned out that he was being mistaken for actor Ed Asner, who was also running). However, what brought Dud and June the most joy in life were their granddaughters, Elsie and Alma. They were so happy to finally become Farfar and Farmor! Dudley was always ready with a
"yes," promising countless gas station donut trips when mom or dad said "no."

Dudley is survived by his son and his daughter-in-law, Richard and Kari Swedberg; granddaughters, Elsie and Alma Swedberg; sister-in-law, Betty Swedberg; co-grandparent, Susan Klingman; and many nieces and nephews.

Dudley is predeceased in death by his wife, June Swedberg; parents, Fred and Trudy Swedberg; brother, Judson Swedberg; sister and brother-in-law, Jeri (Swedberg) and Bill Busse; and co-grandparent and best friend, Donald Klingman.

Dudley will be laid to rest at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery. The family will hold a Celebration of Life at the House of Mercy church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Saturday, July 19, visitation at 11am and service at Noon. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Neighborhood House (https://neighborhoodhousemn.org/).