Family and friends are remembering Kathleen Sweeney and sharing this remembrance with her community:
Our beloved ‘sister’ Kathleen Sabra Sweeney, age 72, of Seattle, passed away suddenly on November 13, 2025. She will be desperately and forever missed.
Kathleen “Kathy,” “Ratty,” Sweeney was born in September 1953 to Charles and DoraMary, longtime West Seattle residents. Raised in West Seattle, she attended Chief Sealth International High School and attended South Seattle College for classes in areas of interest.
A public servant, Kathleen held various positions throughout her career; a few for the State of Washington, the majority with the City of Seattle Transportation Department, Signs and Markings Division. She took her role with the City very seriously, forging an encyclopedic knowledge of the City’s sign codes, processes, and protocols, offering her expertise and guidance to aid her community as needed and ensure public safety. She retired in June 2013.
Kathleen loved a good yard sale, sending cards in the mail, other people’s cats and dogs, beautiful gardens, wool socks, and talking on her rotary phone with friends for hours, often by regular standing appointment. She enjoyed antiquing, thrift stores, checking out new restaurants, and visits to Eastern Washington. Deeply committed to her community and loved ones, she “never met a stranger” and believed in supporting local charities. She was quick to help others, a genuine caretaker, and a “true angel” among us. She valued time with friends and loved ones and will be dearly missed by all.
She is survived by her brother, Michael “Spud” Sweeney, and very close life-long friends: Debbie Jackson, Hope Lauterstein, Shelley Barouh, Hannah Greer, and a community of very close neighbors and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents and brother, Jonathan Sweeney.
A celebration of life will be held in January 2026 in West Seattle – day and location to be announced.
If you would like to share photos, memories, and receive updates for details related to her celebration of life, please email: inmemoryofk@gmail.com or sign the guestbook at: www.emmickfunerals.com/obituaries/kathleen-sweeney
(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)
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