Russell "Russ" Swenson

Russell “Russ” Swenson, 90, Kasota, MN died on Thursday, September 18, 2025, at Benedictine Living Community, St. Peter, MN.

Memorial Service will be at 11 a.m., on Thursday, October 9, 2025, at First Lutheran Church, 1114 Traverse Rd, St. Peter MN 56082, with visitation one hour prior at the church as well. Livestream of the service will be available at www.saintpeterfuneralhome.com.

Born on October 30, 1934, at Swedish Hospital in Minneapolis, MN to Erich Swenson and Mildred (Gulin) Swenson. He attended White Bear High School, graduated in 1953; and learned his craft at the Westlawn School of Small Boat and Yacht Design. During high school he joined United States Naval Reserves and served for eight years.

Russ married Beverly Patraw on November 5, 1955, and together they had four children, Cynthia Burkel, Sandra Drenttel, Linda Johnson, and Michael Swenson.

Russ retired from Alumacraft Boat Company, St. Peter, MN in 1999. He was Vice President, Manufacturing and Engineering and worked from 1953 to 1999 (46 years). Russ joined his father, Erich Swenson at Alumacraft Boat Company to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Erich was Alumacraft’s first design engineer. The handiwork of this father-son engineering team has been part of every boat Alumacraft has built. Russ helped design Alumacraft’s first runabout in 1954 called the Merry M. He was also instrumental in designing the first fiberglass line of boats in the late 1950’s.

In 1987, Russ led the team that designed the Phantom and Competitor Series, the first of the deep-vee hull boats. Alumacraft hulls have long been praised for their exceptional handling qualities and dry ride. Russ is the engineering force behind those designs. The unique one-piece hull bottom with no center seam was also his design and add to that the state-of-the-art 2XB twin plated hull. Both developments were industry firsts. His engineering skills have been applied to a wide variety of boats; rowboats to runabouts, high-speed bass boats to big water deep-vees, and canoes. At the time of his retirement, well over half a million of Russ Swenson’s engineered boats have taken to the water.

He was an avid fisherman, golfer, and hunter but his love was the water and boating (on an Alumacraft boat, of course).

Russ is survived by his wife of 69 years, Beverly; daughters, Cynthia (Steven) Burkel, Sandra (Edward) Drenttel and Linda Johnson; son, Michael (Kristin) Swenson; ten grandchildren; four great-grandchildren, and sister, Marcia (Jim) Wurst.

Russ was preceded in death by his parents and brothers, Bruce and Eugene.

Memorials preferred to donor’s choice in memory of Russell Swenson.

The live stream link below is a complimentary service provided by St. Peter Funeral Home. Unforeseen technical, internet, facility, and/or acoustical circumstances may produce a diminished end product. Please note, if the live stream does not appear, we are attempting to record and publish the service for later viewing.