Jennie Elizabeth Sweetman, of Warwick, passed away on November 16, 2024, at Garnet Medical Center. Middletown, NY. She was 92 years old.
Born on December 6, 1931, in Passaic, NJ, she was the daughter of the late John Vander Stad and Elizabeth Van Eck Vander Stad.
She was married to the late Tunis Sweetman Sr. for 55 years.
Jennie was a graduate of Butler High School and SUNY of Orange County NY.
She was a lifelong journalist writing for the Paterson Evening News, The New Jersey Herald, The Warwick Advertiser, the Warwick Dispatch, and the Greenwood Lake news. Her local history column, “Down History’s Lane,” was read and enjoyed by many until she retired in 2020.
She is survived by her children Dr. Judy Sweetman (Sioux City, Iowa), Tunis Sweetman Jr. and his wife Sharon (Warwick, NY), Jenny Van Grouw and her husband Gregory (Hope, NJ), Dr. Daniel Sweetman and his wife Patricia (Rockford, Mich.), Douglas Sweetman and his wife Amy (Warwick, NY); 33 grand-children and 63 great-grandchildren; her brothers Cornelius Vander Stad (Pequannock, NJ), Edwin Vander Stad (Saddle River, NJ), Harold Vander Stad and his wife Rena (Ontario, Canada); sister Winifred Anker (British Columbia, Canada); and sister-in- law Augusta Greendyk (North Haledon, NJ).
She was predeceased by her husband Tunis Sweetman Sr.; son-in-law Leonard Van Grouw; daughter Janet Ver Duin; and sisters Maude Cahill, Ada Pikkard, and Ruth Sisco.
Jennie was a lifelong member of the Ebenezer Netherlands Reformed Church of Franklin Lakes, NJ.
Visitation: Tuesday November 19, from 5 to 9 p.m. at Lazear – Smith & Vander Plaat Memorial Home. 17 Oakland Ave, Warwick NY.
Funeral service: Wednesday November 20, 11a.m. at the Ebenezer Netherlands Reformed Church, 875 Ewing Ave, Franklin Lakes, NJ.
Interment: following the service in Glenwood Cemetery, Glenwood NJ.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to Netherlands Reformed Christian School Association, 164 Jacksonville Rd, Pompton Plains, NJ 07444.
Arrangements were made by Lazear-Smith & Vander Plaat Memorial Home, 17 Oakland Avenue, Warwick, NY. To send an online condolence, visit lsvpmemorialhome.com.