William Sweeney Jr.

LIEUTENANT COLONEL WILLIAM SWEENEY, JR., (ret) died March 26, 2013 at the Veterans Administration hospital in Washington, D.C. , after a brief but intense struggle with cancer. He was 71 years old. The second oldest of eight children raised by William and Lillian Clark Sweeney, Bill grew up in Queens, New York. A studious yet athletic child, Bill graduated with dual degrees in mathematics and classics from St. John's University, N.Y., then went on to serve his country as an officer in the Air Force, including tours in Vietnam. After his first phase of active service ended, he fell in love with and married Kathleen Curran on August 23, 1969. They moved to a little house in Arlington, VA in 1972, and have remained there ever since.

Bill received an MBA from the University of Chicago, along with another graduate degree in taxation and accounting. His career involved civilian work as an analyst in finance and telecommunications, including helping drive the development of satellite telecommunications systems in the 1980s. At the same time he maintained reserve status in the Air Force and was frequently reactivated for service in both Operation Desert Storm and other work. He retired from the Air Force reserves in 1995, a decorated officer with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He retired from his civilian job at Lockheed Martin in 2006.

Bill was a well-known member of the Arlington community and was frequently sighted in Bon Air Park distributing fishing poles - a sheaf of which he kept in his basement - to children attempting to catch trout in Four Mile Run. He was an avid jogger and ran the Marine Corps marathon for years until his knees no longer permitted. Retirement did not see him slowing his physical or intellectual activity. He traveled repeatedly to China, to Poland and to Italy to visit friends and family. He took up singing in the choir at Saint Agnes Catholic Church; he studied architecture in his spare time at Virginia Tech. He also volunteered, visiting sick veterans at the same VA hospital where he himself would spend his last days.

Bill is survived by his loving wife, Kathleen, his children Peter and Marilee; and by his brothers Stephen, David, and sisters Jackie, Mary Ellen, Angela and Judy.

As Bill loved flowers, those who wish to do so may send flowers to Murphy’s Funeral Home on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington. Alternatively, the family encourages donations to the Fisher House http://www.fisherhouse.org, which houses the families of veterans in intensive care around the country, allowing five members of Bill's family to stay at his side for every minute of his final moments.