Name:
Daniel James Sweeney 
Location served:
Tilbury  
Years in Practice:
1903 to 1946
Area of Specialization:
Family Physician and Surgeon  

Biography:

Dr. Daniel James Sweeney was born in Caledon (Peel County), Ontario on the 4th of March, 1877.  Dr. Sweeney was the youngest of 5 children born to Charles Sweeney and the former Margaret Tighe.  His parents were farmers and his siblings were; Hugh Joseph Sweeney, Ellen Sweeney, John Sweeney (who died at the age of 3 months of whooping cough) and Charles Thomas Sweeney.

Dr Sweeney graduated from Orangeville High School and obtained his teachers certificate.  He taught school in Ottawa until the fall of 1899 when he entered medical school.  Dr. Sweeney graduated M.B. from The University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine in 1903.

He married Florence Johanna Price on the 29th of November, 1905 in York (now Toronto), Ontario.  Mrs. Sweeney was the daughter of Thomas L. Price and the former Elizabeth Flanaghan. She was born in New Zealand in December of 1884.  On the 1911 census, it records that Mrs. Sweeney had immigrated and was naturalized in 1904.

Dr. and Mrs. Sweeney had 4 children; Winston Hugh Price Sweeney was born on the 21st of July 1906 in Toronto, Margaret L.P. Sweeney was born on the 23rd September of 1908 in Toronto, Morris Charles Price Sweeney was born in December of 1910 in Toronto and Florence Mary Sweeney was born in Victoria Harbour (Simcoe County), Ontario on the 7th of May, 1913.

Dr. Sweeney moved his family to Tilbury, Ontario in December of 1913. Sadly, their son Winston died in Tilbury on the 12th of October, 1915 of diptheria.   He was buried at St. Francois Cemetery in Tilbury Township.

On September 29th, 1916 during World War I, Dr. Sweeney enlisted in the Canadian Armed Services as a Captain in the Canadian Army Medical Corp.  He was described on his Medical History Sheet as having gray hair and blue eyes.  Further, he was 5’9″ tall and he weighed 141 pounds.  On the 16th of December, 1916, Dr. Sweeney was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis.  He was admitted to a military hospital in Montreal, Quebec and by the 15th of May, 1917, he was symptom free.  His residence at the time was listed as Tilbury.  While Dr. Sweeney was serving during the war, Mrs. Sweeney moved to Wetaskiwin, Alberta.  After his discharge from the war, Dr. Sweeney joined his family in Wetaskiwin.  According to the 1921 census, the Sweeney family were still in Wetaskiwin.

In 1923 Dr. and Mrs. Sweeney moved to Vancouver.  He retired from the practice of medicine in 1946.

Dr. Sweeney died in hospital in New Westminster, British Columbia on the 11th of November, 1949.  At the time of his death, he resided at 975 Chilco Street.  Mrs. Sweeney died at the home of her daughter on the 14th of July, 1950.  Dr. and Mrs. Sweeney were buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Burnaby, British Columbia.

*Dr. Sweeney also appears on the Gathering Our Heroes website.