Charles Crawford and Marilyn Louise Sweeley Jr.

Haslett, Michigan

Charles Crawford Sweeley, Jr., age 82 died September 21, 2012. He was born April 15, 1930 in Williamsport, PA to Charles C. and Marguerite (Mitchell) Sweeley, Sr. He was raised in Williamsport. He received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1952 and the Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois in 1955. Following five years of postdoctoral work at the National Heart Institute in Bethesda, Dr. Sweeley joined the Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh and was appointed professor in 1966. He moved to Michigan State University in 1968 with an appointment as Professor of Biochemistry and remained there until retirement in 1992. He served as Chairperson of the Department of Biochemistry at Michigan State University from 1979 to 1985. During his academic career Dr. Sweeley enjoyed two sabbatical leaves, one at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden and one in the Cancer Center at MIT. Among several awards were a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1971, an honorary Doctora honoris causa degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Ghent in 1982, Dreyfus Lecturer at Bucknell University in 1983, and University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State in 1990. Dr. Sweeley’s career was primarily devoted to two areas of research, the development of bioanalytical methods in gas chromatography and mass spectrometry and studies on the biosynthesis, metabolism and function of sphingolipids. He was an early pioneer in the development of selected ion monitoring, data systems for GC-MS, metabolic profiling, and the use of stable isotopes in biochemistry. He was associated as a consultant in these areas with LKB, F & M Scientific, Hewlett-Packard, The Upjohn Company, Eli Lilly, Shimadzu, Pierce Chemical, and Meridian Instruments. Dr. Sweeley served on the editorial boards of The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Analytical Biochemistry, Biomedical Mass Spectrometry, and the Biochemistry Journal. He and his wife of 64 years, Marilyn Louise, live in Haslett and have two grown children, Sue (Jim) Prister and Charles Christopher and 5grandchildren Jessica (Zach), Jamie (Danika), Megan, Renee and Christopher. Funeral Services for both Charles and Marilyn will be held Friday, September 28, 10:00 a.m. at the MSU Alumni Chapel, East Lansing, with Pastor Charles D. Grauer officiating. The family will receive friends Wednesday from 6-8 p.m. and Thursday from 4-8 p.m. at Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, 1730 E. Grand River Ave., East Lansing. Those desiring may make contributions to the Alzheimer’s Association, MI Great Lakes Chapter, 310 N. Main, Suite 100, Chelsea, MI 48118 or American Cancer Society, 3100 West Road Bldg. B., Suite 110, East Lansing, MI 48823 in memory of Dr. Sweeley. On line condolences may be made at www.greastlansing.com