Remembering Thomas J. Sweeney, 1951-2025

| Obituaries | West Seattle news

One year after closing his Jefferson Square framing shop, Tom Sweeney has died. His family is sharing this remembrance:

Thomas J. Sweeney
February 11, 1951 – May 14, 2025

Tom died in his sleep after an eleven-year battle with cancer. He fought the good fight right up to the end and we are so very proud of him.

Tom grew up in Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island, the oldest of four brothers. As a child, young Tom would take the ferry to Seattle alone on Saturdays to go to the YMCA and walk up and down First Avenue looking into the army navy stores, G.O.Guy, and all the old institutions of Seattle. His family moved to Bellevue in his teens and he was in the first graduating class of Interlake High School in 1969.

After attending college for a few years (WSU and BCC), Tom was a long-haul trucker across the Southern United States in addition to working harvests in Eastern Washington. One day on a whim he answered an ad for U-Frame-It and found his true calling, picture framing. He managed the UFI shops in Bellevue and Ballard before opening his own shop in West Seattle in 1992, where he created beautiful art for his customers until retiring in 2024.

Tom’s love of family was evident in everything he did. He and his wife Merrilyn raised their daughters to respect all human rights and to strive for equality. He was so proud of both of his daughters for dedicating their careers to social justice.

Tom loved watching the Mariners with his girls, and was a Seattle Sonics season ticketholder; after their sale, he never again set foot in a Starbucks. He was an avid skier and marathon runner. He was a voracious reader and music lover, enjoying genres of all kinds. He was interested in everything and, most importantly, he was an honorable man.

Tom is survived by wife Merrilyn, daughters Lily and Julianna (James), brothers Matthew, Jay and Kent, their families, and countless friends who meant the world to him.

Family was everything to Tom. He will be so very missed.

(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries and memorial announcements by request, free of charge. Please email the text, and a photo if available, to westseattleblog@gmail.com)

Rosalie Miller May 21, 2025 (11:53 am)

Our sincere condolences.Tom always spoke lovingly about his family whenever we saw him at the store.Our house is adorned with family and travel memories that Tom framed. We always trusted his artistic talent. And we always appreciated his book recommendations.A donation to the American Cancer Society has been made in his memory.

Alex May 21, 2025 (12:45 pm)

This is very sad news, he was a great guy, and I was a loyal customer. There’s easily over twenty of my photographs that he had framed over the years. I was sad to see the store in Jefferson Square close, but of course, more sad to read this news today. My condolences to his family and friends.

Another sympathetic client May 21, 2025 (2:21 pm)

Lots of sympathy to his family and friends. Tom was the framer of many of the poems to my wife that are in our house. Nice to read a little more of his background.

Oerthehillz May 21, 2025 (2:25 pm)

A very kind soul. I remember Tom from his frame shop in the Admiral neighborhood near my house and always enjoyed the wave or nod as I’d walk by the window. He was a neighborhood icon.