Alma Swanton Husbands, owned Lewes apartments

Alma Swanton Husbands, our beloved mother and grandmother, of Lewes Beach passed away at the age of 95 Sunday, May 19, 2019.  She was born Alma Czarina Swanton, the daughter of Mildred White Swanton and Carl Bartlett Swanton, and was raised along with her sister and two brothers in Bath, Maine.

After graduating From Morse High School in 1941, Alma worked at the Brunswick Naval Air Station. Later, after moving to join her sister, Elizabeth Swanton Hubbard, in Chadds Ford, Pa, Alma worked in the accounting department for the Atlas Powder Company in Wilmington. Shortly after her move, Alma met her future husband, Harvey Harold Husbands of Chadds Ford. They were married Dec. 26, 1947, and enjoyed nearly 60 years together. 

Working as a team, Alma and Harvey developed real estate holdings, owned and operated the Linwood Dairy Mart, and the Breakwater House vacation apartments in Lewes Beach. Alma and Harvey loved traveling across the country and enjoyed most winter months on the west coast of Florida, while many summers were spent in Maine, visiting friends and relatives.

Alma enjoyed numerous hobbies and interests - one of her great delights was cooking new and unusual dishes created from locally sourced ingredients. She also enjoyed collecting and refinishing antiques, gardening, and she was well known and admired for her exquisite knitting, giving away her prized sweaters, vests, hats, scarves and gloves to her appreciative family members, friends and neighbors. Everyone who knew Alma knew her as kind, caring and generous.

Alma was predeceased by her husband Harvey in 2007. She leaves her daughter, Susanne C. Scott, EdD and son-in-law, David G. Scott, MD, PhD of Los Altos Hills, Calif., and her son, Carl Bartlett Husbands and grandsons, Carl Harvey Husbands and Miles Harold Husbands of Roatan Island, Honduras.

During her later years, Alma received care from Griswold Home Care; most recently from her devoted caregivers, Christiana Boatemah and Sarah Brown.

Following a private service, interment will be at the Chester-Bethel Cemetery in Wilmington. The family requests that any donations in Alma’s honor be made to the Delaware Hospice Center, 100 Patriots Way, Milford, DE 19963.

Arrangements are being handled by Parsell Funeral Homes & Crematorium, Atkins-Lodge Chapel, Lewes.

Please visit Alma's Life Memorial Webpage and sign her online guestbook at www.parsellfuneralhomes.com.