Obituary: Brian Thomas Sweet
January 12, 1941 – December 8, 2024
December 12, 2024
Tom Sweet. 1941-2024
Brian Thomas Sweet, known as Tom, died in the comfort of his own home on December 8, 2024, with his family by his side. Tom was born on January 12, 1941, in the back bedroom of the Minott-Moulton farmhouse in Waterbury Center, his mother’s family home. Dr. Charles Harwood was in attendance, as was Tom’s grandmother, Lizzie Minott. His parents were Lynwood “Jack” Sweet and (Mary) Alice Minott Sweet.
Tom was a hard worker, starting on his Uncle Mike Moulton’s farm. At age 12, his father started dairy farming on what became Sweet Road at the base of Mt. Hunger in Waterbury Center. He routinely walked three miles up Loomis Hill to the farm from that young age to do chores. He decided to become a forester early because “trees don’t need to be fenced in.” He graduated from Waterbury High School in 1959 and attended UVM for two years and then transferred to the University of Maine at Orono to complete a degree in forestry, graduating in 1963.
Tom met Grace Waldo in the summer of 1960 at Twist ’O Hill (a destination resort owned by Marjorie and Barbara Luce of Waterbury) on French Hill in Williston where Grace was a waitress and Tom’s grandmother, Lizzie, was a chambermaid. Tom would often stop to visit his grandmother. Grace and Tom were married on August 15, 1964, in East Brookfield at the Congregational Church and celebrated their 60th anniversary in 2024 with a family gathering. They became the parents of three sons, Matthew Thomas, Philip Lynwood (Rebecca Roebuck), and Daniel Alan (Andrea Shedd), and the proud grandfather of Phoebe, Finn, Camille, and Chase.
Following graduation, he was employed by the U.S. Forest Service for 18 years, beginning with forest survey work in Pennsylvania and then stationed in Rochester, Vermont, Cook and Aurora in Minnesota and Kenton, Michigan. In 1979, Tom became the forester for New England Land Associates, d.b.a. Ward Lumber Company, based in his hometown of Waterbury, Vermont. During that time, he began forestry consulting work for private landowners, retiring in 2023 after a 60-year career. He truly enjoyed working with private landowners as they were most interested in being good stewards of their land. He was very fortunate that his profession was also his avocation. He often said that there was never a bad day in the woods.
Along with these travels with an adventurous partner and now three boys, there were many friends collected and cherished memories created. Overnight canoe camping trips and especially long days of cross-country skiing and hockey playing in northern Minnesota instilled in his boys a love of the outdoors and skills in a canoe, on skis, and on skates.
He gave back to his community in many ways: as a Rotarian, a cooperator for the Northfield Savings Bank for 30+ years, a long-time member of the Vermont Farm Bureau, and a trustee and other roles at the Waterbury Center Community Church, including long stints as the only baritone among a roomful of sopranos. He could be found buried in the dishpan of the church kitchen for chicken pie suppers and sugar on snow dinners. More recently, he was on the Stewardship Committee for the Stowe Land Trust, where he shared his wisdom of forest conservation with a new generation. In all these roles, he lifted his community, rarely if ever accepting any of the well-deserved personal credit.
His summer delight of the last 44 years was making hay on the family farm (square bales), mainly for people who owned horses, interspersed with gardening and canoe trips.
Tom was a member of the Vermont National Guard, Alpha Battery of the First Battalion of the 86th Artillery serving at the Waterbury Armory and becoming a First Lieutenant and the Battery Commander for three years in the 1960s.
In addition to his wife and children, Tom is survived by his sisters, Gayle (Bill) Waite and Carol Lee (Bill) Moulton, and Grace’s siblings, Guy (Barbara) Waldo, Mary Waldo, Irving Waldo, Gerald (Ginny) Waldo, and Elizabeth (George) Phillips; numerous nieces and nephews and many cousins. He was predeceased by his parents and his mother and father-in-law, Thelma (Lamson) and Philip Waldo.
The family is most grateful for the kind attention and assistance of Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice staff including David Caterino, Adam Dickson, Stacey Rockwell, and Bobbi Penny, hospice volunteer. The family is grateful for all the visits from friends and family and for the many people who brought delicious soups and other meals.
For those who would like to donate, the family has established a scholarship in Tom’s name for a graduating Harwood Union High School student(s) pursuing further education in Agricultural or Natural Resource studies. Contributions may be made to the Brian Thomas Sweet Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 156, Waterbury Center, VT 05677.
Services are planned for Saturday, May 24, 2025. Details will be published closer to that date.
To leave online condolences, visit PerkinsParker.com.