CHILDS, Md. – Brother Gerald M. Sweeney, a professed member of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales for 61 years, died Feb. 23. He was 80.
Born in Philadelphia, Brother Gerry entered the Oblates after graduating from Northeast Catholic High School in 1956 and made his first profession two years later. In the Diocese of Wilmington, he served on the staffs of the Oblate Novitiate in Childs and Salesianum School in Wilmington. He also ministered in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania before retiring in 2000.
Brother Gerry’s outside interests included volunteering with a fire department in Pennsylvania, being a member of a town watch, and helping with the Blind Bowlers in Philadelphia. He was also a fourth-degree member of the Knights of Columbus.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Feb. 28 at Our Lady of Light Chapel, 1120 Blue Ball Road, Childs, Md. Visitation is at 9 a.m., with the Mass to begin at 11. Burial will be in the Oblate Cemetery. Donations in Brother Gerry’s memory can be made to the Oblate Development Fund, 2200 Kentmere Parkway, Wilmington, DE 19806.
