Obituary: John Mark Sweeny

January 17, 1944 – March 5, 2025 
John Mark Sweeny, late of Vail, Colorado, passed away on the morning of Wednesday, March 5, 2025. Mark was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the first son of Capt. John Sweeny, USN (Ret.) and Marguerite Caulfield. At 6’8″ tall, Mark was a natural basketball player achieving in high school the title of Northern Virginia Rebound Champion in 1962. Mark attended the University of Maine in Orono and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. Following college Mark went to work with International Business Machines (IBM) in their Boston office selling mainframe computer systems to businesses. Eventually Mark joined RCA Computer Systems, also in Boston, where he continued his sales career. An avid outdoorsman, Mark was drawn to Vail, Colorado after a brief business visit in Denver. In 1971 Mark left Boston to settle in Vail where he pursed his outdoor passion of hiking. In Vail Mark worked at the New Gnu, Safeway, and the Sonnealp, among other places. A familiar tall figure walking around Vail with his signature leather hat and backpack, Mark became a local fixture over the ensuing years as Vail grew.
Mark is survived by his brother, Peter M. Sweeny, Esq. of Lehi, Utah, his sisters Stephanie S. Micas of Midlothian, Virginia and Marguerite Sweeny of Vero Beach, Florida. As an uncle known for his faithfully sending birthday cards to his 7 nieces, 18 grand-nieces and grand-nephews, Mark and his money-bearing birthday cards will be missed.