Robert Vance Sweet

Robert Vance Sweet passed away peacefully at home January 7, 2016. A memorial/celebration of his life will be held at 4:00 p.m., Sunday, January 17, 2016 at the Plumber’s Union Local 8 hall (lower level), 8600 Hillcrest Road, Kansas City, Missouri. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that participants bring food to share with those gathered. Robert Sweet was born February 28, 1941, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Edward Arthur and Jessie Margaret (Vance) Sweet. He grew up in Webster Grove, Missouri, moving as a teen to Caldwell County, Missouri, and lived for several years in Mirabile, Missouri. He worked in heavy construction most of his life in and around the Kansas City area and was a member of the Teamster’s Union. He later operated a small trucking and excavation business, Economy Trucking. As a young man, he traveled to Mexico, returning there every winter for several years, learning to speak fluent Spanish along the way. He married Janet Suzanne Behrend on August 27, 1988, and they settled in Independence, Missouri with Jan’s son, John Henry Muhrer. In 2002, Bob and Jan moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, and returned to Raytown in the summer of 2015 following Jan’s retirement. Bob was active in many peace and justice organizations, including the People’s Energy Project, the Central American Solidarity Coalition, the Committee against War and Imperialism, the Anti-Apartheid Network, the Leonard Peltier Support Committee, the American Friends Service Committee, and others. Bob loved the outdoors, music, good food, travel and meeting the local people everywhere he went. He always wanted to hear their stories and would strike up a conversation with anyone. His travels took him to Nicaragua, Cuba, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Germany, and Honduras. In 1983, Bob ventured to the Lacandon jungle in Chiapas, Mexico, to investigate the forced removal of Guatemalan Indians from their land. He traveled for the second time to Nicaragua in 1984 with an international brigade in solidarity with the Sandinista revolution, staying there for several months working on a finca near the Costa Rican border. Most recently, he was an election observer for the elections in Honduras. In the early 1990’s Bob distributed the On Guard newspaper published by Citizen Soldier, a GI and veteran’s rights advocacy group, to soldiers at Ft. Riley, Kansas. He made numerous late night trips to Junction City, Kansas, distributing the paper in the bars. He was eventually able to get newspaper boxes on the base. One of Bob’s projects was a campaign, in 1997, to get Western Auto stores to remove Confederate Flag truck decals from their shelves. The campaign was successful and he received an award from the American Friends Service Committee for his efforts. Bob is survived by his wife, Janet Suzanne Behrend of Raytown, MIssouri, his step-son, John Henry Muhrer, of St. Louis, Missouri, his sister Doris (Donald) DeZutter of Birmingham, Alabama, his niece, Margaret Ann (Pamela) Boozer-Strother of Washington, D.C. and their son, Kyle, his nephew David (Leslie) Boozer of St. Charles, Missouri and their three daughters, Lauren, Kaitlyn, and Meghan. He was preceded in death by his parents, Edward and Jessie Sweet and his dear friend, Jesus Carreno of Cameron, Missouri.

Robert Vance Sweet

February 28, 1941 - January 7, 2016