‘He always had a life of service for people’

He had a hunch, a feeling. He needed to return to an area on the forest, where he had just spoken to several boys, playing near water.

He drove back in his patrol truck and just in time. He went in the water to pull out one of the boys in trouble. His intuition saved a boy that day.

Image

But this was only one day in 50 years of service that Eric Sweetman had provided to the public during a career with the San Bernardino National Forest (BDF).

Sherry Sweetman, Eric’s wife of 55 years, recounted that story and how dedicated Eric had been in his vocation with the Forest Service. Eric passed away June 18 at Parkview Community Hospital in Riverside, Calif. He was born Nov. 20, 1948.

It was all about service, Sherry said.

“Mr. Sweetman’s work ethic, dedication and commitment to the Forest Service was noteworthy and admirable,” said Jamahl Butler, Deputy Forest Supervisor. “Many of us enjoyed hearing his ‘back in the days’ stories and appreciated his good humor, wisdom and guidance.”

Sherry said they had known each other for close to 60 years and started dating when they were both attending college. She went to school at University of California, Riverside and he studied at California State University Dominguez Hills. On their first date, Eric took Sherry to a Los Angeles Dodger’s baseball game.

Image

Soon they married and started a life in which both served the public. Sherry worked for and became very involved with the Lutheran Church. Eric had been working for the forest in seasonal positions, but in 1974 he became a permanent employee in fire with the BDF. But he wouldn’t just fight fires here; off he went to fire camps across the nation in support of fire suppression missions and she would also travel for her vocation.

Eric and Sherry would return from their travels and enjoy the normal routine of being home, Sherry said. There were no large festivities. He asked for spaghetti (his favorite food) and Sherry prepared it. He wanted to watch his Dodgers play, so he would settle down on the floor to watch them on TV.

“A special time was just being able to enjoy home,” Sherry said. “You were glad to be able to do your dinners and meals like you wanted to. You could to your barbecues, you could do that kind of stuff. It was just having ordinary life that was good. You didn’t have to do something big and special. That was special, because now you were able to be home … and you wanted to take advantage of all that.”

But soon, and sure enough, the phone would ring and one of them would be heading out the door.

Sherry recalled that a neighbor once commented that Eric was home two days in three months.

“This is not unusual,” Sherry told the neighbor. “This is the way it is with fire.”

She would do the yard work and other stuff and it didn’t matter.

Image

“You didn’t whine and snivel about it,” Sherry said.

He always had a life of service for people, Sherry declared about Eric.

“And that was more important to me than anything else,” Sherry stated. “My feelings felt good about that too. You really wanted him to be able to do what he needed to do. And that same thing was true for me. He didn’t whine if I had to go somewhere.”

Sherry explained they had a very strong relationship, but it wasn’t dependent on only the times they spent together.

“We cherished the moments we had and we uplifted the other one to do what they needed to do,” Sherry said.

Shery said that Eric thrived on speaking to and helping people. Talking with people can alleviate their fears or give them some hope about what they’re doing and if they’re on the right track; even though it may seem insignificant or time consuming, it makes all the difference in the world to the public.

“How you do that and how you meet the public is really going to say more for your organization than you’ll realize,” Sherry said.

The importance of service will continue to be Eric’s legacy, I’m sure, Sherry stated.