Karl Sweder

Karl Sweder, 72, passed away suddenly and painlessly on October 31^st, 2024, at Regal Heights HealthCare and Rehabilitation in Hockessin, Delaware where he lived after suffering from a stroke.

He was born on July 28^th, 1952, in Detroit, Michigan and lived an eventful, varied, and singular life. After graduating from Newark High School and attending the University of Delaware and Drexel University, he traveled throughout Europe and South America, survived a near fatal car accident, and worked a variety of jobs including tugboat cook, laboratory technician at the Dupont Experimental Station and at Syntex Pharmaceuticals, nursing assistant, delivery driver, and long-haul trucker. For many years he lived in Boulder, Colorado where he met his beloved wife, Lisa.

Kind, funny, hardworking, irreverent, and devoid of pretension, Karl was easy to love and difficult to forget. He was a devourer of literature and music, and in his home, throughout the day, there was often a selection from his eclectic collection of vinyl records spinning on the turntable. Although he loved Colorado and the Rocky Mountains, every summer he went with his family to Ocean City, New Jersey, wore shoes and socks on the beach, and usually read something like Ulysses or Tropic of Cancer.

Karl was preceded in death by his parents Rudolph and Phyllis and his son Matthew. He is survived by his wife Lisa of Newark, Delaware, his son Eric, daughter-in-law Pamela, and granddaughter Nora of Brooklyn, New York, his sister Karen of Redmond, Oregon, and brother Kevin of Syracuse, New York as well as many nieces and nephews.

A private ceremony will be held in Newark.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to Save the Children, 501 Kings Highway East, Suite 400, Fairfield, CT 06825 or online by clicking here.