Obituary of Lawrence Lewis Sweeney

Lawrence Lewis Sweeney passed away peacefully at the Saint John Regional Hospital on December 3, 2022. Born in Johnville, Carleton County, NB, on December 5, 1943, he was the son of the late Charles and Mary Sweeney.

He attended local schools and graduated from Juniper High School in 1961. Lawrence went on to Teacher’s College, Saint Thomas University as well as received his B.A from UNB Fredericton in 1969, B.ED. from UNB Fredericton in 1971 and Master’s in Education in 1971. He enjoyed a long and successful career in education as a Teacher, Principal and Superintendent of Schools in the Fredericton area where he lived for 43 years. After retirement he went on to instruct at New Brunswick Community College – Fredericton, as well he operated an industrial cleaning business Yorkshire Property Management. On April 18, 1968, he married the late Monica Rose (O’Donnell) and the two of them enjoyed spending time with their family (especially their nieces and nephews) through the years until her passing in 2009.

Lawrence was an active member of St. Dunstan’s Roman Catholic Church in Fredericton. He also enjoyed all sports particularly golf in the summer and hockey in the winter as well as judo and square dancing. He was a member of the auxiliary RCMP and spoke fondly of his time as a statistician for the Fredericton Canadians hockey team of the AHL.

Lawrence is survived by his son, Donald (Jayne) DeMerchant;  grandsons, Benjamin (Maria) DeMerchant and Zachary (Indigo) DeMerchant; granddaughter, Vanessa DeMerchant; a great-granddaughter, Elise DeMerchant; a great-grandson, Maverick DeMerchant; his brothers, Conrad Sweeney and Frank (Alice) Sweeney; sister, Betty (Frederick) Higgins, as well as several nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by his brother, James Sweeney; sisters-in-law, Joyce (James) Sweeney and Lucille (Conrad) Sweeney, as well as a nephew Lloyd (Marisa) Sweeney.

Interment will take place in the Hermitage Catholic Cemetery, Fredericton, on Friday, May 26th, 2023, at 11 am. A gathering to celebrate Lawrence's life will be held on Friday, May 26th, 2023, at St Joseph's Catholic Church, 147 Church St, Bath, NB, from 3 pm - 5 pm.

For those who wish, memorial donations can be made to Alzheimer’s Association or Heart and Stroke Foundation.