Terri died at home, as was her wish, on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020 from heart failure. She is survived by her husband Jerry; daughter Hollie; son Craig (wife Melody); granddaughter Pepper Swanson; and grandson Wyatt Gowen.
Terri was born and raised in Spokane, Wash., to Francis L Zappone and Phyllis (Barnes) Zappone. She has two brothers, Larry Zappone and Don Zappone, and a sister, Toni Zappone. She attended St. Aloysius Grade School, Holy Names Academy high school and, briefly, Seattle University.
She met her husband of 52 years, Jerry Swanson, through mutual friends at Gonzaga University. They married on July 4, 1968, and moved to Los Alamos, N.M., where Craig and Hollie were born. She continued occasional classes at College of Santa Fe until the family returned to the Pacific Northwest in 1975.
Living in Kennewick, Wash., she attended Mid-Columbia Community College until the family moved to the Seattle area in 1981. She completed her AA degree and became a registered nurse through Seattle Community College. She then worked as a nurse and office coordinator in several holistic medical practices in the Puget Sound area.
After leaving her nursing career, she became involved in several women’s organizations: Seattle Crones and dance groups at Madrona Mind Body Institute, Port Townsend, and at the Unitarian Church near Freeland, Wash., on Whidbey Island.
In addition to raising a family and finishing her nursing education, she truly had an artist’s heart, was swayed by strong emotions and enjoyed being spontaneous.She was a lifelong collector focusing on family mementos and artistic materials. She lived in Port Townsend for seven years before moving to Whidbey Island to co-own Greenbank Farm Wine Shop with her daughter and husband.
As her health deteriorated she was adamant that she not receive any extraordinary treatment and, particularly, not be hospitalized. She was given a green burial at Sunnyside Cemetery in Coupeville on Whidbey Island attended by immediate family and a life-long close friend.
A celebration of Terri’s life memorial gathering is 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21 at Rosehill Community Center in the Christianson room. Rosehill is located at 304 Lincoln Ave., Mukilteo, above the Mukilteo/Whidbey Island ferry.
