Arline F. Svenson
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Arline F. Svenson passed away peacefully on November 12, 2020. She was born on December 3, 1937, the first of six children of William J. and Margaret K. Rowe, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. She was predeceased by William Sargent her beloved husband of 37 years, her brothers William Rowe and Thomas Rowe and her sister Linda Rowe. She is survived by her husband, Col. O. Ivar Svenson, Jr. USMC-Ret. Her brothers Robert (Carline) Rowe and Joseph Rowe, her daughter Kim (Jody) Utesch, her son Christopher Sargent and her step daughter Carla S. (Steven) Keane.
Arline considered herself a "Jersey Girl". She was pretty, vivacious, fun to be with and very easy to like, as evidenced by the outpouring of sympathy messages from her many friends acquaintances and family members. She was an incredible sister to her siblings. She had the advantage of an excellent education at Benedictine Academy, followed by graduation from Secretarial School. Which enabled her to follow a second career in administration at various US military installations as she and her children accompanied her husband, Bill, in his military career in the US Navy. This was a second career because her first career was Wife and Mother to Kim and Christopher, her children that she loved equally and dearly. Kim became a lawyer in Denver Colorado. Chris served in the US Marine Corps and later spent eleven years in the Middle East with a civilian company supporting our military operations.
Arline and Bill enjoyed life. The Navy took them to exotic places like the US Naval Base at Subic Bay in the Philippine Islands. After retirement from the Navy, Bill and Arline continued to work in the Department of Defense. While at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado, with the help of brother Bob, they built a beautiful A Frame Cabin in the mountains. They then took assignments with the Department of Defense Dependents Schools System in Wiesbaden Germany where they stayed for five years and satisfied their wander lust by visiting 26 different countries. Then they returned to Melbourne Florida, where Bill passed away in 1997.
As the strong woman she has become, Arline continued to work at Patrick Air Force Base, Habitat for Humanity and at Florida Preparatory Military Academy. She made many new friends, playing Mah Jong, traveling on cruises and spending time with friends in Alaska.
In 2014, a new life began. Back in 1972 and 1973, Arline was assigned as secretary to the Marine Colonel who was the Provost Marshal (head of the base security and military police) for the US Naval Base at Subic Bay in the Philippine Islands. She was an outstanding secretary and the Sargents and the Svensons became good friends. They corresponded infrequently until they lost contact when the Sargents went to Germany. In 2014, Arline was checking on old friends on the computer and "googled" Svenson. Finding them close by in Vero Beach, she sent a "Hello I'm here!" card which immediately renewed our old friendship. We would have lunch together a couple of times a month until Ann became too ill to travel. Again we lost contact.
After Ann passed away, Arline posted an ad on the internet for a friend who wanted to rent his timeshare in Key West. I wanted to take my daughter and son-in-law on vacation, so I responded. Arline called and said I was the first response and I could have it. I said, if she would have lunch with me, I'd give her the deposit to seal the deal. We had a very pleasant afternoon and as she left I gave her a tender kiss that told us both, after 43 years, that we were deeply in love. We married on April 6, 2018 and Arline told my friend, "Our wedding was the happiest day of my life, when I married the man of my dreams."
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on December 3rd, 2020 at 1:00 PM at St. John of the Cross in Vero Beach, Florida. Live streaming will be available via St. John of the Cross' Social Media Platforms (Youtube and Facebook).
Arrangements are under the direction of Strunk Funeral Home, Vero Beach
An online guestbook is available at www.strunkfuneralhome.com