July 18, 2001

Lucille Swing and her late husband, Robert, always hoped that someday their land in Mormon Coulee could be used for something special.
Now, as a result of Lucille and her six children donating the property to the Diocese of La Crosse two years ago, the couple's old farm is the site of a $25 million shrine project to honor Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

"It's a dream come true," Lucille Swing said Tuesday, after assisting with family members at a ground-breaking ceremony at the site off Hwy. 14-61 between Hwy. MM and Justin Road.

The property, which the Swings purchased in 1950, has several unique features, including an artisan well, a spring, and a cave, Lucille Swing and other family members said.

"We had always had dreams of doing something special with the place because it's such a unique place," Lucille Swing said.

The cave and area around it was known in the 1950s as Oehler's Cave and Picnic Grounds, and did get some use by people from the community, she said.

While she has a special devotion to the Virgin Mary, Lucille Swing said she didn't know much about her as Our Lady of Guadalupe until shrine was proposed. Now, the family is well-versed in Guadalupe lore.

Swing's daughter, Jeanne Pavela, and her husband, Steve, are hosting a 12-year-old girl from Mexico City this summer through an exchange program. The girl, Alejandra Gomez, brought several religious articles from the Our Lady of Guadalupe shrine in Mexico City.

The Rev. John Swing, a La Crosse diocesan priest and the oldest of Lucille and Robert Swing's children, said visiting shrines is a tradition among Catholics in Mexico and Central and South America. Father Swing, now is a pastor at Nekoosa-Fort Edwards, Wis., also ran a diocesan mission to Spanish-speaking people in central Wisconsin from 1981 to 1992.

Besides John and Jeanne, other Swing siblings participating in Tuesday's event were Bill of Minneapolis, Patty of Mankato, Minn., and Mary Kay of Nashville, Tenn. Another sister, Peggy, of Washington, D.C., was unable to attend.

The family said they wish Robert Swing, who died in 1994, could have lived to see his land used for the shrine. "We're sure our dad is watching today as this is taking place," Jeanne Pavela said.