Sally Lane Sweet

Sally Lane Sweet passed away from a brief respiratory illness Sunday, August 11, 2024 at home in Lakewood Ranch, Florida.

Born September 24,1944 in Meadville, PA to Roger Lane and Jeanette Anderson Lane, Sally graduated from Southwestern High School in Lakewood, NY in 1962. She attended Penn State University to pursue a BS degree which she achieved in 1966. She was a member of Kappa Delta sorority.

Sally taught English grammar and literature at the junior high, middle and high school levels at schools in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. She was highly regarded and respected by her students and colleagues for the excellence of her teaching and her commitment to her students.

Charles Sweet and Sally were married on June 29, 1974 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They raised two children: Gregg M. Edwards and Charles L. Sweet (deceased, June 11, 2014).

Sally and Charles moved to Norfolk, Virginia shortly after their marriage for Charles' work with Old Dominion University. In 1988, Charles was offered a position with the University of Colorado and Sally, Charles and the two boys moved to Boulder, Colorado. In 2010, Sally and Charles moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado for Charles' work with the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Upon Charles' retirement from the University of Colorado, the couple moved to Lakewood Ranch, Florida.

Throughout these years, Sally worked to support her family and her husband's work with the universities. She was a conservative who valued conservatism's influence on education, its curriculum and teaching methods. As when she was teaching, Sally was deeply committed to the importance of excellence in public education, and she worked hard in the community to achieve that goal. While in Boulder, Colorado, she helped found a group, PULSE, dedicated to addressing education issues in the public schools and electing school board members with a similar commitment to excellence in public education. While living in Colorado Springs, Sally joined Chapter EL of P.E.O., an international organization founded in 1869 to support education for women with scholarships, loans, and grants.

Sally loved to travel and with friends or her family traveled extensively throughout the world. She was exceptionally well read, particularly of poetry, and could quote Longfellow poems and much of Coleridge's Kubla Khan from memory. She was a lover of the arts and nature who valued excellence and beauty and sought to achieve those qualities in all areas of her life.

Sally is survived by her husband, Charles Sweet; son, Gregg Edwards; grandson, Carter Edwards; and her brother, Roger Lane (Anna). She was deeply connected to all her family.

Contributions in memory of Sally Lane Sweet may be made to Hillsdale College (Hillsdale.edu) or to the Bruce & Anne Shepard Reach Your Peak Scholarship program at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs.

A Memorial Service celebrating Sally's life will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Bradenton, Florida on September 20, 2024 at 5 p.m.