- Date Of Birth: November 16, 1934
- Date Of Death: December 12, 2017
- State: New Jersey
John “FaFa” Sweeney, 83, of Lavallette, NJ and West Palm Beach, FL, passed away peacefully at his home in Lavallette on December 12, 2017. Born in Newark, NJ on November 16, 1934, John was the youngest of 7 children born to Hugh and Mary (Gallagher), proud Irish immigrants from County Donegal. On April 16, 1955, he married the love of his life and partner through it all, the former Patricia Helen Gunning. John was an entrepreneur who owned various businesses in both Newark and Ocean County. John founded both the Ocean County Saint Patrick’s Day parade in the 1980s and served as the parade’s Chairman for decades and the Jersey Shore Irish American Club.
He was regionally famous for selling green bagels in Newark every year for Saint Patrick’s Day. John’s hobbies included organizing the parade and spending time with his family. When you have 8 children, 17 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren, spending time with family is a full-time hobby. John was known to start each by reading the newspaper and end each day with a cold Miller Lite. He loved to pull harmless pranks on family and friends visiting the house in Lavallette. John is survived by his wife, Patricia, and their children: Kate of New Brunswick, John of Newark, Joseph (Robin) of South Brunswick, Eileen (Steve) of Lakewood, Robert (Janice) of Spring Lake Heights, Maureen of Portsmouth, RI, and Barbara Struckhoff of Jesup, GA. He is predeceased by his son James (Leigh) of Toms River. FaFa is survived by his grandchildren Anna, Caroline, Laura, Kristie, Hugh, Troy, Jennifer, Jaclynn, Jaime, Lakota, Logan, Erin, Kyle, April, Ben, Jennifer, and Robbie, and great-grandchildren Charlie, Rosalita and Nora.
He was predeceased by his parents, Hugh and Mary, and his brothers Peter, Myles and Hugh and sisters Anna and Bridget. His sister Mary survives all of her siblings.
