Sally T. Sweeney, age 97, of Tenino, Washington, passed away on Saturday, April 22, 2023.
Sally took her first breath on March 29, 1926. Christened “Sarah Elizabeth“ she was born to Charles Samuel Thomas and Eva Rowena Cannon of Stittsville, New York. A caring sister to 11 siblings and a high school graduate, Sally grew up to live an exciting and industrious life. Sally was an aircraft factory “Rosie the Riveter” in Rome, New York during World War II. She was also a journalist. Her column “News by a Dam Site” reported on dam construction work in California during the ‘50s and ‘60s. Sally was also an accomplished painter, a published author and a talented genealogist. She wrote several books about her life’s travels and extensive genealogical texts about her family’s lineages.
On June 23, 1944, Sally married the love of her life, John A. (Jack) Sweeney in Rome, New York. Soon after, they welcomed their son John P. (Pat) Sweeney into the world. Family and friends were important to Sally, and she loved to spend her free time playing cards and various games, collecting antique dolls, crocheting, and sitting on the porch with her dog by her side, enjoying the view of Mount Rainier.
She loved children, including her grandchildren who she called her “critters”, and became an honorary “grandma” to several neighbor families with kids near her home in Tenino.
She traveled all over the country with her husband Jack, who worked on mining and construction jobs. She lived in numerous states and wrote a book called “Tunnel Stiffs” about her travels with her husband and all the friends they met along the way.
A child of the Great Depression, she also wrote several memoirs about growing up in Lee Center, New York that she called “Hayseed.” Since she didn’t have any dolls of her own when growing up, she donated all of the profits from her books to Toys for Tots so that other children wouldn’t have to go without.
Sally was preceded in death by her husband Jack Sweeney; her brothers Thomas, Robert (Buck), William (Jack), Richard (Tyke), Edward and David Lloyd; and her sisters Margaret (Maggie), Annabelle (Belle), Catherine (Mickey), Mary and Laura Esther.
Sally is survived by her son Pat Sweeney, her daughter-in-law Nancy Sweeney, her granddaughter Erin Sweeney Smith, and her grandson Adam Sweeney.
The family would like to thank Sally’s hospice care team and all the wonderful caregivers — Terynn, Emily and Gwen — who made it possible for Sally to be at home for these final few years. There will be a graveside service on May 1 at Grand Mound Cemetery at 11 a.m. In honor of Sally’s long and abundant journey, there will be a celebration of life at 2 p.m. on Monday, May 1, 2023, at her home.
