Carter Edward Swierenga

Carter E. Swierenga, age 18, of Prinsburg, passed away unexpectedly Saturday, July 16, at Carris Health Rice Memorial Hospital.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 26, at the Unity Christian Reformed Church in Prinsburg.  Interment will be at Holland Township Cemetery.  Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. on Monday, July 25, at Unity Christian Reformed Church and will continue for one hour prior to the service.  In lieu of flowers, memorials to the CMCS Theater fund are strongly encouraged.  Arrangements are with the Tri-County Funeral Home of Prinsburg.  www.tricountyfuneral.com

Carter was born on September 17, 2003, the son of Travis (“Trapper”) and April (Hillenbrand) Swierenga.  Carter spent nearly all his years as a part of the Prinsburg community and an active participant at Unity Christian Reformed Church.  Carter just graduated from Central Minnesota Christian School in May of this year and had plans to pursue studies and travels down the road.

Carter loved with his whole heart… and he had a huge heart to love with!  His hugs you felt all the way to your toes!  He also held a special place in his heart for anyone that he felt didn’t have a voice and would defend them ferociously.  He loved boldly – strangers were simply friends he hadn’t met yet! No matter where he went or who he met, he would always leave people smiling and laughing. You just couldn’t help yourself - his spirit was contagious!

Carter loved the theater!  He loved acting on stage or working behind the scenes!  He formed many special friendships over the years through the arts!  He also took up writing – writing poems and prose, capturing thoughts and ideas as they raced through his mind.  Much of this was also fed by a veracious hunger for reading.  Carter was working on building his own library.  “He may or may not have” been responsible for the numerous boxes of books arriving from Amazon at the Swierenga home.  And if it wasn’t theater or writing or books, it was Marvel and Disney movie watching that filled his time.

Carter’s big heart embraced other loves in his life.  He loved coffee, coffee, and you guessed it, COFFEE!  He loved food – preparing it, eating it, serving it.  He loved to dream about unique and exotic places to travel to some day with his dog Tank at his side.  He took his love and laughter into his workplaces, bringing his love of food and people, smiles and laughter to the patrons of the restaurants that he worked at.  He loved (almost) every minute of it.  If you ever had the pleasure of having him wait on you, you just knew that he was having a blast!

His greatest loves were family and faith.

Family meant the world to him.  Home and family represented love to him.  It is there that he grew in love for others as well. He felt deeply and loved deeply.

He unashamedly loved God above all!  He lived life to the fullest because it was a gift from God – every moment of every day for God’s glory filled with joy, laughter, heart-felt tears, and generosity of hugs and hope.

We will miss our gentle giant.

Carter is survived by his parents, Trapper and April of Prinsburg; his brothers, Isaac (and Emma) Swierenga of Spicer, MN., Tanner Swierenga (and special friend, Annie Orsten) of Willmar, and his beloved dog and companion, Tank.  He is also survived by his grandparents: Stan & Cindy Swierenga of Redwood Falls, MN., Wayne & Lonnie Hillenbrand of Willmar, MN.; Great-grandparents: Donna Hillenbrand and Helena Swierenga, both of Willmar, MN.; as well as beloved uncles and aunts, and many extended family members, friends, and co-workers.

He was preceded in death by his grandmother, Mary Kay Swierenga, and Aunt Candee Meyer.

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Gifts and Memorials can be made out to “CMCS” with “Carter S.” in the memo line.  These funds will be given to the CMCS Theater Department and CMCS Library.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Carter Edward Swierenga, please visit our floral store.