Kathleen Sweeney

Kathleen (O'Rourke) Sweeney, age 74, of Rockford, Michigan and North Port, Florida, passed away peacefully with her family by her side, following a prolonged illness on July 21, 2020 in Sarasota, Florida. She was born April 1, 1946 in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan to Clyde and Yvonne (Goudreau) O’Rourke. Kathy attended elementary school at the Ursuline Academy and graduated from LaSalle High School in St. Ignace in 1964. She also married Eugene Sweeney that same year and began her many years with her lifelong partner. Kathy worked for the State of Michigan in the Departments of Secretary of State and Natural Resources before retiring twenty years ago. Kathy was a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Our Lady of Consolation Catholic Church in Rockford and San Pedro Catholic Church in North Port Florida. Her Catholic faith was very important to her as she shared that part of her life with her husband Eugene and their children. She was likely greeted in Heaven by her brother Fred who passed away only a month prior. Kathy spent her life enjoying her children and grandchildren. She also loved the outdoors. She enjoyed fishing, hunting and picking blueberries. The first time Eugene brought her deer hunting with him he let her sit in the woods the entire day by herself. Thinking she would have had enough of that, she quickly exclaimed, ""We need to get out here earlier tomorrow, there are deer running everywhere!"" She was hooked from that moment on. Her husband and children have fond memories of spending time with her in the woods and on the water. She especially loved spending time with her siblings at bird camp each fall. She loved playing cards with her friends and family and for some reason she seemed to almost always win when playing dummy rummy or cribbage. No one could cook a better lasagna, except maybe her chef brother Tim, whom she probably got the recipe from. Kathy had many friends and will be surely missed. She had a loving smile and everyone enjoyed being in her company. Kathy was the loving wife of Eugene who survives her. She was also the proud mother of her sons Aaron (Carolyn) Sweeney of Rockford and Shawn (Ann) Sweeney of Ionia and her daughter Colleen Sweeney of Sweetwater, New Jersey. Kathy is one of eight children in the O’Rourke family. Her surviving siblings are Dan (Carol) O’Rourke of Oneida, WI, Tom “Clem” (Lynn) O’Rourke of Fowler, MI, Tim (Barb) O’Rourke of Dyer, IN, Bill (Karen) O’Rourke of Bellevue, MI, Rose (Eban) Mackey of Marshall, MI, Clyde (Beth) O’Rourke of St. Ignace, MI, and sister in law Jeanette (Fred) O'Rourke of St. Ignace, Mi. She will also be deeply mourned by Eugene's siblings and her ten grandchildren Mariah, Connor, Ryan, Emmett, Owen, Keegan, Trey, Rourke, Finnegan and Dempsey. Kathy was preceded in death by her parents and her brother Fred. A funeral mass will be held at Our Lady of Consolation Church in Rockford, Michigan, 4865 11 Mile Rd., Rockford on August 21, 2020 at 11 am. Interment will be at the Holy Family Cemetery in Barbeau Michigan. In lieu of flowers the family asks that masses be offered for the repose of her soul.