Allen Lewis Sweetsir

Al was a firstborn child to Richard H. Sweetsir and Dolores M. (Byrnes) Sweetsir, born August 24th, 1952, in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The family made several moves as far as Illinois and Indiana, and finally settled in New England. Al graduated from Woodstock Academy in Woodstock, CT in 1970.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1971, went through Basic Training and Infantry School at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Then he went to Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia followed by Special Forces School at Fort Bragg, NC. In spite of his fear of heights, Al loved parachuting.

Al honorably served his country from Vietnam to the First Gulf War. As a Green Beret, most of his missions were highly classified and often not acknowledged due to their sensitive nature. After two tours in Vietnam, he served as a Military Police Officer and later as a Communications-Electronics Maintenance Chief in Lohnsfeld, Germany.

In his twenty-two years of service to his country, Al was awarded a Silver Star, Legion of Merit, and two Bronze Stars for Bravery, and four Purple Hearts for wounds received in combat, among many other rewards. Al was very proud to serve his country and was honored to do so. While stationed in Germany, Al became one of the first Americans to serve on a German Fire Department, and he loved being a part of it.

Al Retired in 1992 and remained in Germany. A year after the passing of his wife Crista in 1993, he and his then fourteen-year-old son, Patrick, returned to the U.S. and settled in Arizona.

While working as a Field Shop Supervisor at Southwest Television Production Services, Al met the love of his life, Ruta, and married in 1999. They have two sons, Lukas and Nicolas. Al enjoyed spending time with his family, traveling, cooking, reading, playing the guitar, listening to music, target shooting and home improvement projects. After permanently retiring Al found a new passion in writing and published his book “Till We Meet Again” in 2022.

Al is survived by his wife of 25 years, Ruta, his three sons, Patrick and his wife Katie of Plattsburg, NY, Lukas and Nicolas of Mesa, AZ. He was a brother of Barbara (Sweetsir) Martin who passed in February 2024, Peggy (Sweetsir) Mazzola, Timothy Sweetsir and his wife Debra and many cousins, nephews and nieces.

Al’s family will receive relatives and friends at the Memorial Service at the Lakeshore Mortuary 1815 S Dobson Rd, Mesa, AZ 85202 on Wednesday, October 16th, 2024, from 5-7 PM.

Inurnment will be at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona 2929 E Pinnacle Peak Rd in Phoenix on Thursday, October 17th, 2024, at 10:30 AM.