Eleanor Duffin Swain returned to her heavenly home on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. She passed away at her residence in Boise, Idaho, with loved ones at her side.

Eleanor was born in 1936 in Salt Lake City, Utah to loving parents, Spencer Duffin and Clara McDonald Duffin, and an older sister Mary. Eventually a younger sister, Linda, joined the family.

Eleanor grew up in Murray, Utah where the whole family was involved in operating a motel. In 1954 Eleanor graduated from Murray High School and accepted a full tuition scholarship from Utah State University. Her first month there she noticed a tall, handsome young man named Clark Swain. A few months after they met, they committed to marriage. During their courtship Clark became legally blind, however, Eleanor stayed true to her commitment to Clark, and the two married in the Salt Lake City Temple, on August 22, 1957.

Eleanor graduated from USU in 1958 with a bachelor’s degree in Home and Family Sciences. Clark and Eleanor moved to Tallahassee, Florida so Clark could work on his PhD at Florida State. With immense help from Eleanor, Clark eventually accomplished his goal. During these college years their children, Blake and Valerie, were born. After Clark’s graduation, he accepted a professorship at Montana State University, so the family moved to Bozeman.  Here Clark and Eleanor had two more children, Carlyle and Jennifer, and they adopted another son, Joseph.

The family moved in 1976 to Boise, Idaho where Clark taught marriage and family classes at Boise State University and worked as a marriage and family counselor. Again, Eleanor played a key role in helping Clark with his work. Also, she did most of the family finances, yard work, and home upkeep.

Clark and Eleanor were both active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Together they were an example of what marriage should be. They were by no means perfect, but they were perfected in Christ. When Clark would dismount from the city bus and step through the front door, Eleanor was there to greet him with a big hug and kiss. They worked as a team rearing their five children. A spiritual gift that Eleanor possessed was providing a listening ear for her children and for her grandchildren. Love and peace were tangible in Clark and Eleanor’s home.

Eleanor is survived by her five children, Blake (Linda); Valerie Swain Steele; Carlyle (Becky); Joseph; and Jennifer (Michael) Payne; sixteen grandchildren, fifteen great-grandchildren; a sister, Linda (Richard) Nielson. Eleanor is preceded in death by her marriage partner, Clark Swain; her parents Spencer and Clara Duffin; her sister, Mary Duffin Cox; a nephew, Kendall Cox; and a grandson, Ryan Swain.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, March 15, 2024, 12 p.m. (noon), at 1111 S. Cole Road, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, next door to the Boise, Idaho Temple. A public viewing will be held that morning from 11 a.m.-11:45 a.m.

Burial at Dry Creek Cemetery.

For those unable to attend, the funeral service will be live streamed at

https://zoom.us/j/91752176509?pwd=a1ZycVVEaGhBTExHYXFNNmhHQ3Njdz09

Meeting ID: 917 5217 6509

Passcode: 1111