Dorothy Ann Sweeney of 78 Will Rogers Drive in Saranac Lake died on Saturday, May 23 at the Adirondack Medical Center. She was born on March 26, 1936, in Springfield, Massachusetts, the daughter of John F. Sweeney and Dorothy Aldrich Sweeney.
She is survived by her sister, Joan Sweeney, of Holyoke, Massachusetts; her brother and sister in law, William and Susan Sweeney of Menands, New York; and her sister in law Eleanor Sweeney of Saranac Lake. She also leaves three nephews and their families.
She graduated from Middlebury College in 1958 with a degree is sociology and anthropology, and received a master's degree from the Columbia University School of Social Work in 1963.
After working in child welfare and health in New York City and Boston, she moved to Bennington, Vermont in 1973, where she was the coordinator of children's services at United Counseling Services. Subsequently she worked in private practice as a psychotherapist.
In 2015 she moved to Saranac Village at Will Rogers, where she found a warm and welcoming home close to her family.
DA, as everyone called her, had a lifelong interest in the visual arts. As she moved into retirement, she was able to spend more time painting in watercolors and pastels. Several of her paintings hang on the walls at Will Rogers, where she had a retrospective exhibit of her work in 2018.
Funeral arrangements are in care of the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home, 20 Church Street Saranac Lake, NY 12983. There will be no calling hours or services. Friends wishing to remember DA may make donations to the Saranac Lake Interfaith Food Pantry, PO Box 532, Saranac Lake, NY 12983, or in care of the Fortune Keough Funeral Home. Family and friends can also share their memories and sign the online guest book at fortunekeoughfuneralhome.com.