Patricia Swinford Couey

February 21, 1942 - January 19, 2021

Patricia Swinford Couey, 78, of Cartersville, Georgia, passed away on January 19, 2021. Patricia was born February 21, 1942, in Rome, Georgia, to Louis Ira Swinford and Mary Hoarce Moore Swinford. After graduating from West Rome High School in 1960, she attended Shorter College and studied history. She married Marvin D. Couey, Jr. of Rome on February 21, 1965, and raised three daughters with him. Ms. Couey worked at Moore’s Grocery, Swinford Grocery, and later ran Swinford and Couey with her mother and father (a family business that was on Division Street for almost 80 years). Later, she worked for the Bartow County School System and retired from Allatoona Elementary in 2008. Patricia was an active Girl Scout. She joined Girl Scouts in the 1950’s. As an adult, she was very active in the Sweet Gum Service Unit as a troop leader, assistant troop leader, and service unit officer. For over 15 years, she led several troops in the Cartersville and Kingston areas and helped numerous girls learn to have self confidence and be self sufficient while providing her girls with a positive role model, trusted adult, and mentor. In addition to Girl Scouting, Patricia enjoyed reading, genealogy, history, traveling, the outdoors, and bird watching, but what she loved most was her granddaughters. Patricia was preceded in death by her parents, Louis and Hoarce Swinford. She is survived by her sister Betty Ezzard Swinford Powell, her aunt Donnis Swinford, Marvin Couey, her three daughters: Sandy Couey of Adairsville, Marti Couey of Cartersville, and Nicole Couey of Tallahassee, her beloved son-in-law Enrique “Ricky” Iruegas, her three granddaughters: Kiersten Iruegas, Abbigail Brownlee and Sarah Beth Brownlee, and her nephews Chip and David Ezzard, her cousins of Granny’s Girls: Betty Powell, Carolyn Sims, Charlotte Bedwell, Liz Leming, Theresa Murray, Regina Bishop, Sue Alford, Linda Newton, Penny Percival, Jennifer Jackson, Donna Thomas, and her lifelong friends Pam Green Rawls and Nancy Saxton. Graveside services will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, January 23, 2021, at Oaknoll Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Allatoona Elementary School and the cherished students: Allatoona Elementary School Counselor’s Fund 4150 New Hope Church Rd Acworth, GA 30101 Parnick Jennings Sr.'s Good Shepherd Funeral Home has charge of the arragements