Audrey (Tufts) Swanson, 90, passed away on Friday, May 12, 2023. She is survived by her loving and devoted husband of 65 years, Robert W. Swanson (Bob) of Lexington, her son David R. Swanson and his wife Lee-Ann of Lexington, MA; her daughter, Karen S. Bursaw and her husband Richard of Hamilton, MA; her grandchildren Krista Swanson, Andrew Swanson and his wife Abigail, Matthew Swanson, Allan Bursaw and his fiancée Emily King, Peter Bursaw; her nieces Deborah Nielsen and Cynthia Canavan; her nephew Jeffrey Gorton. She was predeceased by her loving sister, Marilyn (Tufts) Gorton.

Audrey was raised and educated in Arlington, MA, the eldest daughter of the late Francis and Bernice (Woodford) Tufts. She was a class of 1950 graduate of Arlington High school and a class of 1954 honors graduate of Tufts University. After college, she pursued a career in education, initially as a third grade teacher at Fiske Elementary School in Lexington and later as a substitute teacher in Lexington and a pre-school teacher at Hancock Church Nursery School.  In the interim, she married her church sweetheart, Bob Swanson, settled in Lexington and raised a family. She kept busy with the PTA as well as serving as a den mother in cub scouts and on various church committees and women's groups. Audrey was a life-long reader, a knitter who created sweaters and accessories for her family and a walker and enjoyed birdwatching either at her backyard bird feeders or along the Concord River.

Most important to Audrey was her strong faith in Jesus Christ which she shared quietly but regularly through her gift of teaching. She served in many capacities of children's ministries at both First Baptist Church in Arlington and at Grace Chapel in Lexington where she was a long time member. She spent the later years of her life working part-time in her husband's business, Swanson Jewelers, traveling with her husband and good friends and shepherding her five grandchildren by encouraging them with their studies and their faith.

A Funeral Service will be held Wednesday, May 17th at the Douglass Funeral Home, 51 Worthen Rd. Lexington, MA at 11:30am. Visitation immediately prior to the service from 10:30am to 11:30am. Relatives and friends are kindly invited.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, 322 8th Avenue, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10001.

Interment at Westview Cemetery, Lexington, MA.