Geraldine Elizabeth Swartz, 79, of the Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Butler Township, died at 4:40 a.m. Thursday at Sunnyview.

Born March 2, 1931, in Richland Township, Venango County, she was the daughter of the late Homer Theodore Hess and Lois Geraldine Hess.

Mrs. Swartz was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Butler.

She worked at various administrative positions with Boise Cascade and Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

Mrs. Swartz was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and the Red Hat Society.

She graduated from Bradford High School in 1948.

She enjoyed cooking, reading, genealogy and watching football.

Mrs. Swartz is survived by one son, Robert A. and his wife, Elizabeth, Swartz of Butler; two daughters, Teresa A. Swartz and life partner, Nancy Wise, of Arroyo Grande, Calif., and Elizabeth A. Swartz and her husband, John Crittenden, of Alexandria, Va.; and four granddaughters, Jennifer Rebecca Ryan and her husband, Edward, of Holmdel, N.J., Brandie Elizabeth Klee and her husband, John, of Butler, Emily Mae McMullen and her husband, Joseph, of Drexel Hill, Delaware County and Meghan Marie Nunes and her husband, Troy, of Gibsonia. She also is survived by seven great-grandsons, Eamonn, Eoghan and Echlin Ryan of Holmdel, N.J., Aiden, Ethan and Colin Klee of Butler and Tavian Nunes of Gibsonia; two sisters, R. Jean Hutton of Bradford and Thelma Niver of Navarre, Ohio; three brothers, Frank Hess of Wooster, Ohio, Homer Hess of Bowling Green, Ky., and James Larry Hess of Parma, Ohio; and several nieces and nephews.

Mrs. Swartz was preceded in death by her husband, Robert W. Swartz; her parents; and one brother, Theodore Hess.

<B>SWARTZ</B> — A private memorial service for family and close friends of Geraldine Elizabeth Swartz, who died Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010, will be at the First United Methodist Church of Butler on Monday at 11 a.m.In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the First United Methodist Church, 200 E. North St., Butler, PA 16001 or to the American Cancer Society Butler County Unit, P.O. Box 3014, Butler, PA 16003.Arrangements are under the direction of the <B>Thompson-Miller Funeral Home</B>, Butler, and information and a private guest book are available at www.thompson-miller.com.