The Greatest Generation lost a worthy foot soldier July 9, 2011 when Charles A. McSweeney died at the age of 95.
Never one to complain or shirk responsibility, Mac battled the growing darkness of progressive, debilitating dementia that defined his later years.
He is survived by a sister, Adah Bossart; son, Stephen McSweeney; daughter-in-law, Camille Peterson; granddaughter, Heather Bair; nieces, Anna Freeman and Elaine Hutchings; and nephew, Jerry Grubbs. Passing before him was his wife of 54 years, Gladys; his brother, Edgar; and sister, Margaret Grubbs.
Charles' civilian career was spent in the civil service where he held positions of increasing responsibility, culminating in Editor in Chief of the Soil Conservation Service. After taking an early retirement in 1974, and commuting between Maryland and Colorado for ten years, Charles and Gladys moved permanently to Rifle in 1985.
Charles "retired" to the maintenance of five linear miles of barbed wire fence on the family homestead – still carrying cedar posts up the Hogback on his back and setting them on-line with a post hole digger at the age of 88.
Working the ranch fences allowed him to study the migratory patterns of local big game – bagging several trophy bucks and innumerable elk. His love of the outdoors extended to ranch and home improvements, fishing and gardening. During inclement weather he was an avid and skilled wood worker – fashioning oak, mahogany and walnut clocks and furniture in his home workshop. He was also a prolific poet in his later years – leaving over 200 copyrighted poems, mostly intellectual, political commentary and other topical subjects.
Charles was born Aug. 6 1915, in Meeker – the first child of Agnes and Edgar McSweeney. An avid, but chronically near-sighted reader, Charles single handedly defined the curriculum for the 3rd grade at the Petrolite country school. As a child, he demonstrated an early aptitude for wood working – fashioning a pair of skis and a guitar out of scrap boards.
Charles attended and graduated from Meeker High School by working for his room and board. Subsequently, while attending CU, he helped to organize a men's Co-Op, Ain't No Pie, and lettered in track.
He fell in love with Alberta Witchey, of Carbondale at a Fourth of July dance. Facing the uncertainties of a world at war, they eloped to Baltimore where they were married in a civil ceremony on 22 April, 1942. Fourteen months later Charles was drafted and assigned to the 770th Field Artillery which was deployed to the ETO. Charles served with the 770th through the Brest peninsula Campaign and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
Like so many of their generation, Charles and Alberta resumed their lives after the war, buying a house and starting a family. Resumption of Charles' version of the American Dream was interrupted, however, by Alberta's death in January of 1953. On Aug. 28, 1954, he and Gladys Marion Johnson were married in Washington D.C.
They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and had been married 54 years when Gladys passed on Nov., 20 2008. Together they raised Stephen, Charles and Alberta's son.
Like so many from the Greatest Generation, Charles measured his success by the legacy that they left their children -that in some small way they would make the world a better place for their progeny. With the perspectives of time and distance, I have come to understand how Charles' sacrifices did just that – removing some disagreeable things that I never had to endure. Thank you for not having to grow up surrounded by crushing poverty. Thank you for not having to work my way through both high school and college, endure a great depression or fight in a World War.
Thank you, Dad, for affording me a life of peace and privilege and thank you for being my Dad.
A memorial service is planned for Saturday, July 16, 2 p.m. at the Rifle Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to the Alzheimer's Association or a charity of your choice.
Post Independent July 13, 2011. Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
Never one to complain or shirk responsibility, Mac battled the growing darkness of progressive, debilitating dementia that defined his later years.
He is survived by a sister, Adah Bossart; son, Stephen McSweeney; daughter-in-law, Camille Peterson; granddaughter, Heather Bair; nieces, Anna Freeman and Elaine Hutchings; and nephew, Jerry Grubbs. Passing before him was his wife of 54 years, Gladys; his brother, Edgar; and sister, Margaret Grubbs.
Charles' civilian career was spent in the civil service where he held positions of increasing responsibility, culminating in Editor in Chief of the Soil Conservation Service. After taking an early retirement in 1974, and commuting between Maryland and Colorado for ten years, Charles and Gladys moved permanently to Rifle in 1985.
Charles "retired" to the maintenance of five linear miles of barbed wire fence on the family homestead – still carrying cedar posts up the Hogback on his back and setting them on-line with a post hole digger at the age of 88.
Working the ranch fences allowed him to study the migratory patterns of local big game – bagging several trophy bucks and innumerable elk. His love of the outdoors extended to ranch and home improvements, fishing and gardening. During inclement weather he was an avid and skilled wood worker – fashioning oak, mahogany and walnut clocks and furniture in his home workshop. He was also a prolific poet in his later years – leaving over 200 copyrighted poems, mostly intellectual, political commentary and other topical subjects.
Charles was born Aug. 6 1915, in Meeker – the first child of Agnes and Edgar McSweeney. An avid, but chronically near-sighted reader, Charles single handedly defined the curriculum for the 3rd grade at the Petrolite country school. As a child, he demonstrated an early aptitude for wood working – fashioning a pair of skis and a guitar out of scrap boards.
Charles attended and graduated from Meeker High School by working for his room and board. Subsequently, while attending CU, he helped to organize a men's Co-Op, Ain't No Pie, and lettered in track.
He fell in love with Alberta Witchey, of Carbondale at a Fourth of July dance. Facing the uncertainties of a world at war, they eloped to Baltimore where they were married in a civil ceremony on 22 April, 1942. Fourteen months later Charles was drafted and assigned to the 770th Field Artillery which was deployed to the ETO. Charles served with the 770th through the Brest peninsula Campaign and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
Like so many of their generation, Charles and Alberta resumed their lives after the war, buying a house and starting a family. Resumption of Charles' version of the American Dream was interrupted, however, by Alberta's death in January of 1953. On Aug. 28, 1954, he and Gladys Marion Johnson were married in Washington D.C.
They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and had been married 54 years when Gladys passed on Nov., 20 2008. Together they raised Stephen, Charles and Alberta's son.
Like so many from the Greatest Generation, Charles measured his success by the legacy that they left their children -that in some small way they would make the world a better place for their progeny. With the perspectives of time and distance, I have come to understand how Charles' sacrifices did just that – removing some disagreeable things that I never had to endure. Thank you for not having to grow up surrounded by crushing poverty. Thank you for not having to work my way through both high school and college, endure a great depression or fight in a World War.
Thank you, Dad, for affording me a life of peace and privilege and thank you for being my Dad.
A memorial service is planned for Saturday, July 16, 2 p.m. at the Rifle Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to the Alzheimer's Association or a charity of your choice.
Post Independent July 13, 2011. Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
The Greatest Generation lost a worthy foot soldier July 9, 2011 when Charles A. McSweeney died at the age of 95.
Never one to complain or shirk responsibility, Mac battled the growing darkness of progressive, debilitating dementia that defined his later years.
He is survived by a sister, Adah Bossart; son, Stephen McSweeney; daughter-in-law, Camille Peterson; granddaughter, Heather Bair; nieces, Anna Freeman and Elaine Hutchings; and nephew, Jerry Grubbs. Passing before him was his wife of 54 years, Gladys; his brother, Edgar; and sister, Margaret Grubbs.
Charles' civilian career was spent in the civil service where he held positions of increasing responsibility, culminating in Editor in Chief of the Soil Conservation Service. After taking an early retirement in 1974, and commuting between Maryland and Colorado for ten years, Charles and Gladys moved permanently to Rifle in 1985.
Charles "retired" to the maintenance of five linear miles of barbed wire fence on the family homestead – still carrying cedar posts up the Hogback on his back and setting them on-line with a post hole digger at the age of 88.
Working the ranch fences allowed him to study the migratory patterns of local big game – bagging several trophy bucks and innumerable elk. His love of the outdoors extended to ranch and home improvements, fishing and gardening. During inclement weather he was an avid and skilled wood worker – fashioning oak, mahogany and walnut clocks and furniture in his home workshop. He was also a prolific poet in his later years – leaving over 200 copyrighted poems, mostly intellectual, political commentary and other topical subjects.
Charles was born Aug. 6 1915, in Meeker – the first child of Agnes and Edgar McSweeney. An avid, but chronically near-sighted reader, Charles single handedly defined the curriculum for the 3rd grade at the Petrolite country school. As a child, he demonstrated an early aptitude for wood working – fashioning a pair of skis and a guitar out of scrap boards.
Charles attended and graduated from Meeker High School by working for his room and board. Subsequently, while attending CU, he helped to organize a men's Co-Op, Ain't No Pie, and lettered in track.
He fell in love with Alberta Witchey, of Carbondale at a Fourth of July dance. Facing the uncertainties of a world at war, they eloped to Baltimore where they were married in a civil ceremony on 22 April, 1942. Fourteen months later Charles was drafted and assigned to the 770th Field Artillery which was deployed to the ETO. Charles served with the 770th through the Brest peninsula Campaign and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
Like so many of their generation, Charles and Alberta resumed their lives after the war, buying a house and starting a family. Resumption of Charles' version of the American Dream was interrupted, however, by Alberta's death in January of 1953. On Aug. 28, 1954, he and Gladys Marion Johnson were married in Washington D.C.
They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and had been married 54 years when Gladys passed on Nov., 20 2008. Together they raised Stephen, Charles and Alberta's son.
Like so many from the Greatest Generation, Charles measured his success by the legacy that they left their children -that in some small way they would make the world a better place for their progeny. With the perspectives of time and distance, I have come to understand how Charles' sacrifices did just that – removing some disagreeable things that I never had to endure. Thank you for not having to grow up surrounded by crushing poverty. Thank you for not having to work my way through both high school and college, endure a great depression or fight in a World War.
Thank you, Dad, for affording me a life of peace and privilege and thank you for being my Dad.
A memorial service is planned for Saturday, July 16, 2 p.m. at the Rifle Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to the Alzheimer's Association or a charity of your choice.
Post Independent July 13, 2011. Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
Never one to complain or shirk responsibility, Mac battled the growing darkness of progressive, debilitating dementia that defined his later years.
He is survived by a sister, Adah Bossart; son, Stephen McSweeney; daughter-in-law, Camille Peterson; granddaughter, Heather Bair; nieces, Anna Freeman and Elaine Hutchings; and nephew, Jerry Grubbs. Passing before him was his wife of 54 years, Gladys; his brother, Edgar; and sister, Margaret Grubbs.
Charles' civilian career was spent in the civil service where he held positions of increasing responsibility, culminating in Editor in Chief of the Soil Conservation Service. After taking an early retirement in 1974, and commuting between Maryland and Colorado for ten years, Charles and Gladys moved permanently to Rifle in 1985.
Charles "retired" to the maintenance of five linear miles of barbed wire fence on the family homestead – still carrying cedar posts up the Hogback on his back and setting them on-line with a post hole digger at the age of 88.
Working the ranch fences allowed him to study the migratory patterns of local big game – bagging several trophy bucks and innumerable elk. His love of the outdoors extended to ranch and home improvements, fishing and gardening. During inclement weather he was an avid and skilled wood worker – fashioning oak, mahogany and walnut clocks and furniture in his home workshop. He was also a prolific poet in his later years – leaving over 200 copyrighted poems, mostly intellectual, political commentary and other topical subjects.
Charles was born Aug. 6 1915, in Meeker – the first child of Agnes and Edgar McSweeney. An avid, but chronically near-sighted reader, Charles single handedly defined the curriculum for the 3rd grade at the Petrolite country school. As a child, he demonstrated an early aptitude for wood working – fashioning a pair of skis and a guitar out of scrap boards.
Charles attended and graduated from Meeker High School by working for his room and board. Subsequently, while attending CU, he helped to organize a men's Co-Op, Ain't No Pie, and lettered in track.
He fell in love with Alberta Witchey, of Carbondale at a Fourth of July dance. Facing the uncertainties of a world at war, they eloped to Baltimore where they were married in a civil ceremony on 22 April, 1942. Fourteen months later Charles was drafted and assigned to the 770th Field Artillery which was deployed to the ETO. Charles served with the 770th through the Brest peninsula Campaign and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
Like so many of their generation, Charles and Alberta resumed their lives after the war, buying a house and starting a family. Resumption of Charles' version of the American Dream was interrupted, however, by Alberta's death in January of 1953. On Aug. 28, 1954, he and Gladys Marion Johnson were married in Washington D.C.
They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and had been married 54 years when Gladys passed on Nov., 20 2008. Together they raised Stephen, Charles and Alberta's son.
Like so many from the Greatest Generation, Charles measured his success by the legacy that they left their children -that in some small way they would make the world a better place for their progeny. With the perspectives of time and distance, I have come to understand how Charles' sacrifices did just that – removing some disagreeable things that I never had to endure. Thank you for not having to grow up surrounded by crushing poverty. Thank you for not having to work my way through both high school and college, endure a great depression or fight in a World War.
Thank you, Dad, for affording me a life of peace and privilege and thank you for being my Dad.
A memorial service is planned for Saturday, July 16, 2 p.m. at the Rifle Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to the Alzheimer's Association or a charity of your choice.
Post Independent July 13, 2011. Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
Inscription
McSweeney
Charles A.
Aug. 6, 1915
July 9, 2011
Master of Words
& Wood
Gladys J.
June 24, 1917
Nov. 20, 2008
Beloved Wife, Mother
Sister & Mother-In-Law
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
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