Portrait of Mary Swedenburg. IMB Photo

Mary Swedenburg, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Japan, died March 2, 2025. She was 82.  

Mary was born Feb. 9, 1943, in Reform, Alabama, to the late Rev. James Reece Swedenburg and Trannie Duckworth Swedenburg. She graduated from Hueytown (Alabama) High School, and received the Bachelor of Arts from Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee, Oklahoma, and the Master of Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas. 

She became aware the Lord was calling her to foreign missions from an early age, and while attending a youth conference at Ridgecrest, she made a public commitment to serve in foreign missions. During college, she began to put the thought of missions behind her as she became caught up in the excitement of teaching. Upon graduation, she began teaching in Alabama and found the work both enriching and satisfying.  

During this period, her call to missions was renewed when she returned to Ridgecrest for a conference as director of a discipleship training program in Alabama. While seeking appointment she wrote, “Very simply the thought came very clear to me, ‘Mary, remember this is where you made public your call to foreign missions. Now do something about it.’” In the fall of 1967, she enrolled in seminary to begin preparation to seek missionary appointment. While in seminary, she developed a desire to serve in East Asia. 

In 1969, the International Mission Board appointed Mary missionary to Japan. She worked there as a teacher and church planter until her retirement in 2005. 

She was preceded in death by her two brothers, James Swedenburg and Joseph Swedenburg. 

She is survived by one sister, Martha Ann Swedenburg King of Decatur, Alabama, and by many nephews, nieces, great nephews, great nieces, and cousins. 

A graveside service was held March 7 at Bethlehem Baptist Church Cemetery in Reform. 

Read an obituary here.