Susan Swan

Susan Swan, known as Sam to her friends and family, passed away peacefully on July 31, 2026. Born on March 30, 1940, in Eugene, Oregon, to Fabian and Rita Vachon Cottnair, Sam lived most of her life in the Pacific Northwest. Her father was a logger who took the family to several towns and logging camps in western Oregon, including Eugene, Monroe and Dallas. Sam was a member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and was active and committed from an early age, instilling in her children a love and respect for native culture which continues with her grandchildren.

Sam married Bill Mullin in 1958 with whom she had two children: Susan Mary (stillborn) in 1960 and Kevin Charles 1962. Sam and Bill later divorced but remained close friends.

In 1969 Sam met and married Dave Pratt while living in Tacoma. Sam and Dave had son Jason Vachon in 1970. Sam and Dave Pratt divorced in 1972 and Sam and Jason moved to Bend, OR to be closer to her lifelong friend, Meryl McGill.

In Bend, Sam put down deep roots that shaped the rest of her life. In 1975 she met local newspaper photographer Dave Swan. The two were an instant item in the small mill town on the Deschutes River. They married in 1978 and were together until Dave’s unexpected death in 2014. Together they raised Jason who took the last name “Swan” even before they married and always called Dave dad.

While living in Bend Sam took a job as a secretary to the Vice President of Brooks Scanlon lumber mill. While in that position she took advantage of a new management program that trained millwrights to be foremen and gave them jobs at the completion of the program. Sam worked hard and distinguished herself in the male-dominated industry. After completing the program her hard work was recognized and a forward thinking executive offered her the position of foreman of the millpond operation. Sam became the first female foreman in a modern lumber mill in the western United States.

As difficult as the new job was, it wasn’t without benefits. After securing her position at the mill, the local newspaper sent a photographer to take pictures of the woman doing men’s work at the mill. That’s how she met her future husband, Dave Swan, the photographer for the newspaper.

Later Sam transitioned from the lumber mill into the healthcare industry, managing medical offices for more than a decade before she and Dave purchased Q-Photo, a consumer and commercial photo lab in Bend. Under their partnership Q-Photo flourished with Sam managing the business operations and Dave managing the technical operations. Their quality and reputation allowed them to transition their business to support commercial photographers and government organizations that continued to need film and paper processing during the early years of mainstream digital photography.

Sam and Dave sold Q-Photo and retired in 2004. After retirement they bought a Bluebird Wanderlodge RV, affectionately known as Cygnus, and travelled the United States for almost eight years. During that time they visited places they always wanted to see. They were also able to spend a lot of time with Sam’s sons and their families between cross-country trips.

Throughout her life, Sam was an ardent devotee of art, especially drawing and painting. She spent many hours painting the scenes she saw during their travels around the country and went on art retreats to Portugal and the Cook Islands. One of “G’ma Sam’s” most enduring legacies is the joy and appreciation of art she instilled in her children and grandchildren. Whether she was working with paint and paper, clay, fabric, or something else, art provided Sam an important creative outlet and gave her peace even in difficult times.

She also found joy in the tranquility of gardening. As long as most of us recall, Sam kept a garden, even when space and climate made growing things a challenge. Whether she was growing tomatoes or geraniums, or her all-time favorite “Aphrodite’s Nighty” passion flower, all her plants flourished and bloomed!

Sam was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints ever since joining in 2011. Over the years she served as a teacher and outreach coordinator in local Primary and Women’s Relief Society organizations. She was a member of the Gig Harbor Ward for the last 5 years and loved her association with other members of the ward. Her weekly WOW (Widows of the Ward) bible study meetings were usually the highlight of her week and she cherished the times when missionaries came to her home for a meal and when ward members came to visit.

Sam had an incredible life of challenges and successes, but what mattered most to her was her family and friends. She is survived by her sons Kevin (Shelly) Mullin and Jason (Jamie) Swan; her granddaughters Morgan (Riley) Holder, Susan, Rebecca, and Kathryn Swan; and her grandson Alexander Swan. She was preceded in death by her father Fabian, mother Rita, brothers David John and Stephen Frank Cottnair, her daughter Susan Mary Mullin, her granddaughter Olivia Ann Swan, and her beloved husband and best friend, David Swan.

Susan's life was a testament to her smart, creative, whimsical, loving, and adventurous spirit. She will be deeply missed, but her legacy will live on in the hearts of those who loved her. We invite you to share your cherished memories of Sam and upload photos to the memorial page, as a tribute to her remarkable life.

A memorial service will be held for Sam on Saturday, August 15th at 11:00 am at the Gig Harbor Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints located at 8002 Dorotich St, Gig Harbor, WA 98335. Please join the family for a luncheon immediately after the service.