Dorothy Garrison Swarts passed away Friday, June 9th, of complications from Multiple Sclerosis. She passed comfortably with her husband Geoff, daughters Laura, Sarah, Tanya, and Jessica, and other close family at her side.

Dorothy was a great-great granddaughter of Charles & Agnes Olds, the first family to settle and stay on Mercer Island back in 1884. She was born March 12, 1957, in Seattle to David and Betty (Wolfe) Garrison. A Mercer Island resident for most of her life, she grew up at Appleton on East Mercer Way, and was a 1975 graduate of Mercer Island High School.

A graduate of the University of Washington, Dorothy was a R.N., working in hospitals and hospice programs. She was very active in the community, including the League of Women Voters, PTA, MIPC, and even as a youth soccer coach. For years she was a regular sight alongside Mercer Island roads on her electric tricycle. She had an amazing positive attitude that kept her going even as the Multiple Sclerosis slowed her body down.

Dorothy and her husband Geoff were parents of four daughters, Laura Regan (husband, Josh), Sarah Simmons (husband, Ben), Tanya Brown (husband, Andrew), and Jessica Swarts. She was thrilled to have two wonderful grandchildren, Izzy Simmons and Chuck Regan. Her siblings are Liz Milligan of Bremerton, Margaret Fletcher-Garris of Snohomish, and Dave Garrison Jr of Concord, California.

An informal remembrance gathering will be held from 1:00 – 3:00 pm on Sunday, June 18th, 2017 at the Mercer Island Community Center to share favorite Dorothy stories with each other and/or place them in a memory book. The address is 8236 SE 24th St, Mercer Island. Plenty of parking and the facility is ADA accessible.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at nationalmssociety.org.