Sue Swezey Sandeen's Obituary
Sue Swezey Sandeen died on February 29, 2024 at Haven Hospice in Gainesville, Florida. She was born in Lafayette, Indiana, to John W. and Maxine Morrison Swezey in 1940, and attended the public schools there, graduating from Jefferson High School in 1957. She went to college at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She completed her undergraduate degree in English Literature, cum laude, at Miami U. in 1961, where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, Mortar Board, and Phi Beta Kappa.
In June 1961, she married Art Sandeen, and they moved to East Lansing, Michigan, where Art earned his Ph.D and Sue her M.A. in English Language and Literature at Michigan State University. Their daughters, Sara and Anne, were born in East Lansing in 1963 and 1965. She began a long career as an ESOL teacher in Lansing, Michigan and continued teaching when the family moved to Ames, Iowa in 1967 and to Gainesville, Florida in 1973. She worked for the Alachua County School Board until retirement in 2005.
She is survived by her beloved husband of 63 years, Art Sandeen, by her daughters, Sara Kennedy (Walter) of St. Augustine, Florida, and Anne Schatz (Steve) of Marietta, Georgia. She was the proud and loving grandmother of Katherine Kennedy, Jack Schatz, Walter Carl Kennedy, Claire Schatz, and David Kennedy. She is also survived by her sisters, Melinda Tomsic, of St. Augustine, Florida and Anne MacLeod of Newport News, Virginia. Her sister-in-law, Wanda Jones (Tom) of Naperville, Illinois, and brother-in-law, John Sandeen (Mary Ellen) of Prescott, Arizona, also survive, as well as many nieces and nephews.
Sue was an avid reader and cryptic crossword fan. She enjoyed annual vacations in Northwest Ontario for bass fishing with family and friends and at St. Augustine Beach with her grandchildren. She also enjoyed travel abroad and visited more than 30 countries.
Sue expressed her thanks for the excellent medical care she received during the past five years from Dr. Peter Dziegielewski, Dr. Eileen Golway, and the staff of Haven Hospice.
The funeral service will take place at the Williams-Thomas Funeral Home, 404 North Main St. Gainesville, Florida at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, March 4, 2024. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any donations be made to Haven Hospice in Gainesville, Florida.
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