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Texas Sabine Swanjord, 79, Madison, Connecticut, and Balaton, Minnesota, formerly of Guilford

Texas Sabine Swanjord, 79, of Madison, Connecticut, and Balaton, Minnesota, formerly of Guilford, died on Aug. 30.  She was the wife of Don Swanjord of Balaton, Minnesota. Texas was born in New Haven on March 31, 1932, daughter of Robert and Vivian (Buckley) Sabine. After high school in Guilford, Texas attended Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. She and Gordon Whiteman were the parents of Mark, Leigh, Kevin, Jason, and Bradford Whiteman, and lived in Guilford and Madison.

Texas and Don Swanjord were married on Nov. 18, 1976 in New Haven. Texas received a BA in philosophy at Connecticut College, an MA in environmental education at Southern Connecticut State University, and an MA in counseling and a PhD in rural sociology at South Dakota State University. Texas and Don lived in Iran, Yemen, Kuwait, and Iraq where they taught and administrated educational programs at universities and for the U.S. State Department.

Since 1992, Texas had made her primary home in Balaton, Minnesota, while maintaining a second home in Madison. In Minnesota, she taught counseling, sociology, and education at SDSU and SMSU. Texas was one of the founders of The Community Nursery School and East River Farm in Guilford, The Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Society in Madison, Yankton Country School, and WALA in Minnesota.

Since 2004, Texas and Don were the proprietors of the Balaton House Bed & Breakfast. An energetic person, Texas excelled in the creation of artwork, cooking, writing, teaching, and making a home.

Besides her husband, Texas is survived by her children, Mark Whiteman and his wife Vicki of West Chester, Pennsylvania; Leigh Whiteman and her husband Jefri Ruchti of Guilford; Kevin Whiteman and his wife Karen of Madison; Jason Whiteman and his wife Tracy of Oakland, California; and Bradford Whiteman and his wife Maria Sappe of Guilford. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Blake and her husband Tim Roberts, Brittany, Nolan, Graham, Blayne, Brianna, Madison, Benjamin, Emery, Brin, and Bowen; her great-grandchildren, Kyla and Robin; several nieces, nephews, and other relatives; and a host of friends.

A funeral service was held on Sept. 3, 2011 at Sillerud Lutheran Church in Balaton, Minnesota. Burial was in Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Scandia Township, Minnesota. A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, April 14, at 2 p.m., at the Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Society, 297 Boston Post Rd., Madison.  All are welcome.  In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Guilford Fund for Education (info@gffe.org).