Dixie Sweger 1920-2004 A graveside service was held t the Mt. Whitney District Cemetery in Lone Pine on Wednesday, June 2 at 11 a.m. for Eunice Dixie Sweger. A visitation was held prior to the service at the Owens Valley Mortuary in Lone Pine. Dixie died on Thursday, May 27 at her residence. She was 84 She was born on Jan. 9, 1920 in Gardena the fifth of seven children born to Thatcher and Eunice Burns Bright. When she was a child the family moved to the desert where her father worked in mining, and she spent much of her childhood playing at various mining sites. Later, her father ran the Reward Mine northeast of Lone Pine. Dixie attended schools in Mojave, Lancaster and Big Pine. Dixie married Lewis E. Sweger, son of Wesley and Anna Sweger of Fish Springs, when it had a store, station and cabins in the mid-1930s. The couple lived in Whittier from 1942-1956, raising two children. Around 1958 she married Jesse James Kelley and lived in Pico Rivera. After his death she moved back to Lone Pine and later re-married Lewis Sweger. He died in 1990. Dixie like being back in the Owens Valley, for more than 30 years, and the times she could spend with her sisters Doris and June and their children, to whom she was very close. Dixie always said that her greatest pleasure was raising her children, being a mother and a wife. She missed Louie when he passed, but she persevered to continue on with her quiet life. She was very proud of her of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Dixie was preceded in death by her husbands Lewis and Jesse; her parents; four brothers, Joseph, John, Richard and Donald Bright; son, Larry Paul Sweger; her son-in-law, Walter L. Groff; and step-grandson Walter L. Groff, Jr. She is survived by her daughter, Janice Eunice Groff of Brea; grandchildren, Dana Scott and wife Michelle, Sherry Lee Jones and husband Mike; great-grandchildren, Jason Wesley Groff, Samuel Joseph Jones, and Lillian Rachel Jones, all of Yorba Linda; a step-grandson, Larry Lee Groff of Costa Mesa; and two sisters, Doris Ferber and June Bagwell, both of Lone Pine. The Inyo Register, Bishop, CA

Many thanks to Sharon for this transcription.