ROCKPORT — Barbara "Bobby" Sweitzer, 89, of Rockport, Maine, passed away peacefully on March 15, 2026, after a battle with Alzheimer’s.

She was born on November 14, 1936, in Gowanda, New York, and from her earliest days displayed a sharp mind, a generous spirit, and a confidence that never wavered. Her passing ends a full and vibrant life of deep friendships and fierce devotion to her passions. She will be missed.

An artistic child, Bobby began her undergraduate studies at Syracuse University in 1954, graduating in 1958 with a BA in Business, a degree her father felt would be “practical”. She was a proud member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, where, she liked to joke, the good-looking ladies could be found. After graduation, she moved to New York City and worked at the Metropolitan Life offices from 1958 to 1960, years she remembered fondly as a single girl making her way in the big city, visiting museums, seeing all the shows on Broadway, living an independent and a little bit bohemian life. It was at Syracuse that she met Robert Sweitzer, a paper chemist, and the two married in 1960. They began their life together in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, where Bob worked in the paper mill and where their two daughters were born.

In 1970, the family moved to Greenfield, Massachusetts, where Bobby spent many happy years raising her girls with a value system focused on intellectual, feminist and liberal arts pursuits. She was engaged in the Greenfield community and made lifelong friends during her years in Western Massachusetts. Allowing her artistic side freer reign, during these years she worked at a framing shop and started a china repair business, culminating in repair of the town’s life-sized creche figures who occupied the guest bedroom on James Street for a year in the 1970s. She was an active volunteer for the United Way, the Franklin County Hospital, and the Girl Scouts for many years.

In 1981, the family returned to Wisconsin for Bob's work, and after some wonderful years living on Crescent Lake in Rhinelander, Bob and Bobby retired in the mid-1990s to Rockport. Bob and Bobby were instantly in love with mid-coast Maine and considered themselves tried and true Mainers.

Bobby was whip-smart, curious, and never short on strong opinions. She was a master quilter and engaged in knitting, bargello, needlepoint, macrame and many other crafts. She was an avid reader of contemporary literature. She loved music, kept up on current events, and cherished time spent outdoors in her garden. She was community-minded, serving as a proud member of PEO, working for years in the Rockport Garden Club, and participating in bridge clubs and community groups everywhere she lived.

Bobby was preceded in death by her husband, Bob Sweitzer, and her brother, Tom Spittler.

She is survived by her daughters, Nancy Sweitzer and Julie Sweitzer Jannke (and husband Paul); four loving grandchildren, Geneva Saupe, Peter Saupe, Helen Jannke, and Sam Jannke; and a wide circle of friends whose lives she enriched.

We find peace knowing the long decline is over and hope she is somewhere deadheading peonies and listening as the orchestra warms up.

A celebration of Bobby’s life is planned for July 3 in Rockport, Maine.

The family requests those who wish to express sympathy to consider making a donation to Alzheimer Disease Research (https://curealz.org/) or Maine Coast Heritage Trust (https://www.mcht.org/) in Bobby’s name. A donation to your local library or NPR station would also be a fitting remembrance.

To share a memory or condolence with the Sweitzer family, please visit their Book of Memories at www.bchfh.com.

Arrangements are in the care of Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock Street, Rockland.