U.S. Marine, former Chief Executive Officer of the Twin Cities Newspaper Guild, St. Paul Pioneer Press reporter and editor, died June 1, 2024 at the Minneapolis Veterans Home. He passed away from complications of Ataxia and Parkinson’s disease, of which he willfully fought until his last breath, at the age of 80.
Mike, Sweeney, Sweenah, Dad and Paca, as known by family and friends, was born on April 10, 1944. He was the first and only baby born at the Camp Lockett Army Base in Campo, California. His family made their way from California to Montana and eventually to Hopkins, Minnesota where he was raised as the eldest of four brothers and two sisters.
He attended Most Holy Trinity Elementary School and Benilde High School where he developed life-long friendships. He then joined the United States Marine Corps and served as a combat correspondent in the Vietnam War.
Upon his return from Vietnam, he was recognized by the State of Minnesota with a Distinguished Journalist award for his reporting of the war. He refused to attend the ceremony due to his strong opposition to the continued U.S. presence in Vietnam.
After completing his journalism degree at the University of Minnesota, he spent time honing his writing skills at the Fairmont Sentinel and the Associated Press in Bismarck, ND. He returned to the Twin Cities to work at the Pioneer Press where he spent the next 22 years as a journalist, editor, and newspaper guild steward. His specialty was covering crime and the court system. He went on to become the Chief Executive Officer of the Twin Cities Newspaper Guild until his retirement in 2006.
In retirement, Mike partnered with his close friend and renowned novelist John Camp to write a book loosely based on a story he wrote years prior for the Pioneer Press. The novel “Bad Blood” went on to win a Thriller Writers Award.
Outside of his professional passion, he enjoyed camping with his children and friends in the Boundary Waters, photographing loved ones, running marathons, studying and achieving a TaeKwonDo Brown belt, golfing, skiing and reading an endless number of books, and of course, the newspaper.
One of his favorite traditions was attending family reunions in Billings, Montana.
He was a colleague, an editor, a mentor and a friend to many journalists worldwide who were influenced by his unwavering commitment to journalism and adherence to the principles of simplicity, objectivity and truth.
The greatest joy of his life was spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren. They called him “Paca” dubbed by his first granddaughter when she couldn’t pronounce grandpa. He spent his free time taking them to the park, movies, museums and on road trips. He was proud of the young adults the first four had become and anxious to see who the last two would become.
His family knew him as the fiercely intelligent and sometimes stubborn brother with a dry sense of humor, passion for current events, and unconditional love for his family.
Mike is preceded in death by his mother and father John and Marian Sweeney. He is survived by his wife Angeles, his children Kathleen, Carlo and Michael, daughters-in-law Tanya and Jacquie, grandchildren Fiona, Lauren, Gustavo, Kate, Sebastian and Julian, siblings Bill, Mary Ann (Jack), Kathleen (John), Joe (Wendy), Tom (Carla) and Terry (Barb), numerous nieces and nephews and countless lifelong friends. He will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved him.
A Celebration of Life service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 29th at the Minneapolis Veterans Home at 5101 Minnehaha Ave. South.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Bob Allison Ataxia Research Center at the University of Minnesota or the National Ataxia Foundation.