Swan Hamren

Swan Oscar "Bud" Hamren, Age 89, of Port Orchard, WA, Bud passed away peacefully June 9, 2008.  He was born to Oscar and Emma Hamren in Stockholm, Sweden on March 5, 1919.  He and his parents came to America in 1924 and soon settled in Hobart, WA.  The family, including two younger brothers, moved to Port Orchard in the early 1930s and Bud eventually enlisted in the US Army in August 1944.  He is a WWII veteran and proudly served our country for 8-1/2 years, most of that time spent overseas in Germany and Europe.  He was honorably discharged as a Master Sergeant in February 1953.    Bud married Barbara Rooms, his wife of over 54-years, in January 1954, and resided in Port Orchard from then until he passed away.  He worked at Howe Hardware in Port Orchard and spent 35-years at Pacific Electric in Bremerton as the Retail Store Manager, finally retiring at age 72 in 1991.  He loved landscaping and working in his beautiful yard with Barbara and building interesting things in his basement workshop, which he maintained as neat and organized as an operating room.  He enjoyed solving daily crossword puzzles, taking Barbara out to lunch at their favorite restaurants, attending his grandchildren's many school activities and sporting events (as their biggest fan), spending time with family at barbeques and parties, rooting for our beloved professional sports teams (as long as they weren't losing), and telling fascinating stories to everyone about his interesting childhood in Hobart and Tiger Mountain and his Army and WWII experiences.  He had a wonderful personality, a very quick wit and a superb sense of humor.  He brought great joy and happiness to each person who knew him, had the amazing ability to make friends instantly and made everyone he met look forward to seeing him again the next time.    He is survived by his wife Barbara, two sons and a daughter, six grandchildren, two great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.  Bud was a kind and brilliant man, a wonderful husband, a tremendous father and grandfather and an amazing best-friend.  He was dearly loved and respected and will always be remembered and truly missed.  A private, family memorial service is planned.