Jean Sweet

Jean Holzschuh Sweet, a long-time social justice and community activist, died peacefully in her Madison home on September 26, 75 years to the day since she met Charles "Charlie" Sweet, her love of 70 years, on the dance floor of the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.

In 1946, she received a degree in zoology from the UW, at a time when most women were kept from studying science. She worked at the UW McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research and for UW professor Dr. Edward Birge, a pioneer the field of limnology. After they built a house in Midvale Heights, she and Charlie were active members at Midvale Lutheran Church but left when, in the name of Christianity, their commitment to social justice was disparaged.

Jean found a rewarding way to further those principles when she met the civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer through Measure for Measure, founded by Madison Freedom Summer volunteers to break Jim Crow segregation in Mississippi. Mrs. Hamer became a frequent houseguest of the Sweets, their families maintaining a connection for years after Mrs. Hamer died.

The Sweets strongly supported their daughter Debra and other high school students who organized the 1968 Walk for Development when Madison residents walked to raise significant funds for Mrs. Hamer's Freedom Farm Co-op. When Debra received a medal from Richard Nixon for service and told him to end the Vietnam War, Jean and Charlie proudly backed her, receiving bags of positive and negative mail.

While receiving a B.S. in nutrition in 1984, Jean began a study of the harmful effects of sugar, salt and fat in processed foods, and went on to research and market education materials to schools. She began a long involvement with the Midvale Heights Community Association as a driving force behind the development of the Bison Prairie Gateway, the Tokay Boulevard plantings, and Forests, Farms and Families: A History of the Midvale Heights Neighborhood, which became an example for other neighborhoods.

When the Bush administration began its unjust, illegitimate war on Iraq, Jean and Charlie spearheaded the publication of the Not in Our Name Statement of Conscience in The Wisconsin State Journal and other Wisconsin papers.

Jean found great joy in caring for her grandsons, taking Writing for Your Life classes with Jerry Apps at The Clearing for many summers, serving as a reviewer for the Jane Addams Children's Book Awards, practicing Tai Chi with the Flow Motion Fliers, and tending her landscape and organic vegetable garden for 65 years.

She was preceded in death by Charles Sweet, her husband of 67 years.

Jean is survived by her son Jeffrey, his wife Roberta, grandsons Daniel and Trevor, and granddog Wrigley, all from Illinois; daughter Debra of New York City; niece Donna Mienk and husband Jerry Werle; dear friends Pam Bell, Carole Bendtsen, Denajua Denujea, Cathy Hamma, Steve Lesch, John Porto, Lorraine Ranney, Dr. LaRoy Reek and Judy Schultz; devoted caregivers Elizabeth Caul, So Chiang, Ginny Komaniak and especially Delgertsetseg "Deegii" Zorigt; and close neighbors David and Rhoda Braunschweig, Theodora Christensen, Teresa Hauri and Mike Meyer, Vanessa and Larry Moseley.

Her loved ones wish to thank Dr. Tyler Steward at the UW Geriatrics Clinic, the staff of Oakwood Village Hebron Oaks and Heartland Hospice, and the community of Support Active Independent Lives (SailToday.org) for helping Jean to live happily at home.

A memorial celebration will be held 2:00 pm Sunday, October 28 at her home, 506 Woodside Terrace, Madison WI.

Memorials in her name may be sent to http://donate.refusefascism.org/debra or http://wisconsinnicaraguawheelchairproject.org/wheelchairs.php and http://familyfarmers.org/

Cress Funeral & Cremation Services
6021 University Avenue
(608) 238-8406