County Mourns Loss Of Billy Sweet

Billy Sweet passed away at the end of June, and leaves behind a lifetime of service to Blair County. Sweet was an active fireman for over 45 years at Claysburg and vice president of the Blair County Chapter of the NAACP for many years.

"He wore a lot of hats. He was a firefighter, VP for awhile, Fire Police Captain for while..." Travis Finnegan from the Claysburg Volunteer Fire Company said.

"The NAACP's successes in Blair County would not have been possible without the added contributions of Bill Sweet," NAACP Andrae Holsey said.

Sweet's son Travis added, "My dad was really into volunteerism and volunteering, civil rights and things of that nature."

"He never worried about anything that he was going to get out of anything that he did. He was out to help the betterment of his community and people."

Linda Witherspoon, wife of former NAACP President Don Witherspoon, remembers that her husband and Billy worked together for years at the NAACP. Their friendship began when Billy had taken over taking care of a black cemetery in Claysburg.

"Bill decided that he wanted to clean it up because it was run down and not taken care of," Witherspoon said. "He cut the grass and actually even bought a flagpole and had it installed.

"We developed a really good relationship," she said. "We became really close friends with him and his wife Patty."

She adds that they would do little trips together, like mini-vacations.

"We had a wonderful relationship."

Holsey said that Billy was just as much of a silent professional and yet a power player as Don Witherspoon was.

"The organizations (that he volunteered for) are losing a great historian. As you make decisions in the present to affect the future, the mission of your organization, it is truly important to know the past. Bill was a master with the knowledge of the past."

Travis said that his dad knew all of the movers and shakers.

"If he couldn't figure it out, he knew somebody who he could get a hold of to figure it out," Travis said.

Billy was buried with full fireman's honors.

"I was a third- generation fireman," Travis said. "My grandfather was one, my dad was one and I was one until I got injured. When I was growing up, it was like a family affair. My mom, dad and I were all in the fire company."

Finnegan added that Billy and Patty were always at the fire hall, helping with fundraisers.

"The family and anybody who knew Bill is really going to miss him," Finnegan said.

According to Travis Sweet his dad's love and dedication to volunteering began with ringing the Salvation Army bell.

"I remember that there was big snow storms and freezing cold and he was at the K-Mart ringing the bell in the middle of blizzards," Travis said.

Both Billy and his wife are important to the local branch of NAACP. They served as mentors to Holsey and the current officers as they went through the transition of the leadership. They never missed an opportunity to go to an event, even after the loss of Don Witherspoon.

"They went out of their way to support us, be there and let us know that they agreed with the decisions that we were making and to give guidance," Holsey said.

Sweet recalled that his dad never missed anything that he, his sister or the grandkids were involved with. That was both before and after he retired.

"Bill loved life," Witherspoon said. "He loved people. He adored his family. He was a wonderful family man. His family came first."

"We will be hurting for some time with his loss," Holsey said. "We're quite thankful for the time that he dedicated, the effort that he put into the success of the NAACP in this region."