Obituary of Robert J. Sweeney

Robert J. Sweeney, 72, of Danvers, passed away peacefully on October 11th at the Brigham and Woman’ s Hospital in Boston, in the presence of his loving wife of 47 years, Ruth. In addition to his wife, Ruth, Bob leaves his son Michael Sweeney of Haverhill, his daughter Carolyn Moscato and her husband Albert of Naples, Florida, his son Robert Sweeney and his wife Laureen of Salem, his son Paul Sweeney and his partner Stephen Ledbetter of Brookline, his son Howard Sweeney and his wife Rita of Beverly, and his son David Sweeney and his wife Rebecca of Newburyport. Bob is also survived by his daughter-in-law Mary Ann Sweeney of Danvers, 13 grandchildren, many nieces, nephews and cousins, and countless friends and others whose lives he touched. Bob was a graduate of Saint John’ s Preparatory School, Boston College, Boston University Graduate School, and South Florida University, where he received his PhD in Communications. Bob worked for many years as Audio Visual Director of the Peabody Public School system and for the past 20 years as president and co-founder of Am-Pro Mailing List Company. Bob devoted his life to the service of others through countless volunteer, religious and philanthropic activities. During the 1960’ s and 70’ s, Bob and Ruth volunteered at the Appalachian Missions in Kentucky under the auspices of the Christian Family Movement. With their six children in tow, they spent many summer vacations volunteering in Appalachia, helping impoverished families there. Bob also spent over 20 years volunteering at Lazarus House Ministries in Lawrence. Bob was a member of the Third Order Salvatorian, a member of the Secretariat of the Cursillo movement at Saint Basil Salvatorian Center, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Basilian Salvatorian Order in the United States, one of the few lay members to have the honor of serving on that board. Always known for his generous spirit, happy disposition and boundless energy, Bob loved spending time with children, and was especially well suited playing Santa Claus at Lazarus House, Saint Basil’ s Salvatorian Center and Knights of Columbus functions. He also participated on missionary trips to Kingston, Jamaica, serving the poor and sick. Bob took particular satisfaction in the past few years ministering to prisoners housed in Bridgewater and Norfolk. Most recently, Lazarus House announced that Bob and Ruth had been awarded the Christ Service Award, that organization’ s highest honor. Even more than formal recognition, however, Bob’ s dedication, spirit and generosity inspired most everyone who had the good fortune of coming into contact with him. A devout Christian, Bob served the parish community of Saint Mary of the Annunciation in Danvers as a member of the liturgical committee, a member of the Pre-Cana marriage program, and a Eucharistic minister. He also attended daily Mass at the Discalced Carmelite Monastery in Danvers, and had an especially close relationship with the nuns living there. With deep affection, he would refer to them as my girls, and they would refer to him as one of us. Appropriately, Bob’ s funeral will take place on the feast of Saint Theresa of Avila, the founder of the Catholic religious order of Discalced Carmelites. Bob’ s approach to life is perhaps best expressed in his own words, used in his application to serve on a volunteer mission to Kingston, Jamaica: No matter what gifts I bring, if I can help just one person, it will have been a tremendous success and experience. A Funeral Mass celebrating Bob’ s life will be held at Saint Mary of the Annunciation Church, 24 Conant Street, Danvers at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 15th. Family and friends are kindly invited to attend. Visiting hours are from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, October 14th at the Chapel of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns, 15 Mount Carmel Road, Danvers. In keeping with Bob’ s generous spirit, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in his name to the Discalced Carmelite Nuns, 15 Mount Carmel Road, Danvers, MA 01923-3796 or to the Saint Basil Salvatorian Center, 30 East Street, Methuen, MA 01844-4400.