Sandra N. Swenson

Sandra Swenson, a resident of San Simeon by the Sound Rehabilitation Center in Greenport, passed away from complications of Parkinson’s disease on July 1, 2020.

A Connecticut native, Mrs. Swenson was born Sandra Nachowitz on Sept. 26, 1935, in Stamford. Her parents, Henry and Gertrude Nachowitz, immigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe in the 1920s. In 2017, she moved to Greenport to be closer to her daughter, Jocelyn Ozolins, who lives in Orient.

As a young woman, Sandra moved to the vibrant scene of New York City in the 1950s to study art at the renowned Art Students League. There she met and married her first husband, Neale Wilke Clapp, by whom she was predeceased in 2015. She is survived by two daughters of her first marriage, Jocelyn Clapp Ozolins of Orient and Robin Clapp, originally from Chatham, N.J., as well as their spouses, Helmar Ozolins of Orient and Hans Foght of Copenhagen, Denmark; and three grandchildren.

Driven by a lifelong love of gourmet cuisine, Mrs. Swenson made a successful mid-career shift to full-time employment as a chef. She eventually worked in several highly regarded restaurants and catering firms in the northern New Jersey suburbs of New York.

Sandra, known as “Sandy,” also enjoyed a lifelong interest in the fine arts, displaying a distinctive graphic style and sense of color in her works in pen and ink, watercolor, oil and acrylic.

Mrs. Swenson was also predeceased by her third husband, Arne Swenson, and survived by his two daughters, Linnea Murakami of New Providence N.J., and her husband, Gary Murakami, and Ingrid Swenson of San Francisco.

From her family of origin, she is survived by her twin sister, Estelle MV Hoffmann III of Fairfield County, Conn. She was predeceased by their elder brother and his spouse, Sidney and Joan Nachowitz, and survived by her three nephews, Jay, Todd and Marc, their spouses and children.

The family wishes to thank the staff of San Simeon, where Mrs. Swen­son lived for the last several years of her life. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

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