Margaret Sweany

Margaret "Peggy" Sweany was born in Logansport, IN on a spring day in 1928. She died peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones on a beautiful spring evening two days shy of her 84th birthday. As a young woman, Peggy was intrigued by engineering and architecture and her early talent for drawing drove her to be the first female drafting student in her high school. Her artistic talents encompassed both 2 and 3-dimensional work. Her first employment was as a photo studio technician, and she remained an avid photographer all her life. In the 1940's, Peggy moved to Indianapolis to attend John Herron School of Art where she met and married Indiana Artist, Paul J Sweany. Together they raised 4 daughters in an environment saturated by creativity, art and music. She taught them to see beauty in everything from rocks and textures, to light filtering through a canopy of leaves. She enjoyed camping, gardening, splitting wood, bird watching, building projects, and she was an excellent seamstress. Margaret was best known for her outstanding ceramic sculpture (especially of bears) and her colorful oil paintings. She taught clay courses at the Indianapolis Art Center, where she and Paul were active teacher/members for over 50 years. They retired to Bloomington in 1999. Her art is a tribute to a multi-talented individual and her love for architecture, nature, color and travel. Peggy was a driven artist and an inspiration. She never, ever lost her sense of awe and actively worked on her art until only a few short days before her cardiac condition resulted in her earthly demise. Peggy was preceded in death by her parents, George & Jessie Marshall, her five siblings, Mable Leffert, Ruthie Angell, Arthur, John and George Marshall; her beloved nephew, Jack Leffert, and her husband, Paul J. Sweany. She is survived by her four loving daughters, Jessica (Jeff) Rutherford, Justyn (Ken) Wolf, Jenny (Vince) Stankiewicz, and Jaime Sweany; her dear friend Ransom Haile, her loving care-giver Rebecca Phillipson, and her best (canine) friend "Baby." She has nine beloved grandchildren, Lauren, Landon, Brian, Shane, Emily, Tobin, Tierney, Kayleen, and Savannah, and 9 great-grandchildren. There will be a private family service. In lieu of flowers, please send memorial donations in her name to Pets Alive, 2444 South Walnut Street Bloomington, IN 47401.

Tributes

Margaret Sweany

April 4, 1928 - April 2, 2012