New Comer Family Obituaries - Jack Sweetman 1940 - 2019 - Newcomer Cremations, Funerals & Receptions

In Loving Memory of

Jack Sweetman

1940 - 2019

In Loving Memory of

Jack Sweetman

1940 - 2019

Newcomer - E. Orlando Chapel (407-277-4227) is assisting the family

Share Memories

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Please also sign me up for Newcomer's email newsletter.

We will treat your information with the utmost confidentiality and not share or distribute it in any way.

Add your memories to the guest book of Jack Sweetman.

Condolences should be personal messages from family and friends. For a full version of our online obituary policy, please click here.

Memories & Condolences

Unbeknownst to his many friends, Professor Jack Sweetman sadly passed away in late 2019 at his home in Orlando, Florida, following his beloved wife Gisela (“Gee”) Sweetman by less than a year. He is survived by his daughter Jeanne Jacqueline Rengstorf of Bonaire, Ga.

Jack Sweetman was born in Orlando, Florida on January 5th 1940, the only son of Arthur and Bertha Sweetman. He graduated with Honours in History from Stetson University in 1961, where he was also a distinguished cadet in the University’s Army ROTC program.

Upon graduation, Jack was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the US Army and was deployed to West Germany, where he rose to the rank of Captain and Company Commander. It was there that he met Gee, at the time a staff nurse at the Stuttgart Bad Cannstatt Hospital on the base where Jack was serving. It was love at first sight and they were soon married.

In 1965 they returned together to Orlando after Jack completed his service with the US Army. He tried his hand at real estate and property management with his own firm Sweetman-Herb Construction & Realty, but after a few years he turned his attention from his interest in business to his passion for history.

Jack completed a History MA in 1970 and then a PhD in 1973 at Emory University as a Ford Foundation fellow for five years. His thesis was entitled The Unforgotten Crowns: The German Monarchist Movement 1918-1945. During his final two years in the PhD program, he was a visiting lecturer at Indiana University, Bloomington, Illinois.

Upon completing his PhD in 1973, he moved to Annapolis, Maryland to take up the post of history professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, and where he became a fixture of the department for 20 years while at the same time writing prolifically. In 1993 he moved over to the US Naval Institute where he worked until 2020, and where in addition to publishing his own works, he worked tirelessly as series editor for the Naval Institute Press's Classics of Naval Literature and consulting editor for the Naval Institute's Naval History magazine.

Jack was a wonderful colleague and teacher who left an indelible mark on those who got to know him. He was always generous with his time and talent especially for his midshipmen students, often opening Gee and Jack’s home with great hospitality and delicious meals.

He was also an extremely talented author with a real flair for writing that was not just scholarly but also highly accessible and inspiring. He is best known for The U.S. Naval Academy: An Illustrated History; American Naval History: An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present; Flags Into Battle: the Vietnam Experience 1954-73 (co-author); The Landing at Veracruz: 1914; Great Sea Battles of World War II; Leathernecks: An Illustrated History of the United States Marine Corps (co-author); Great American Naval Battles (edited); The Great Admirals: Command at Sea, 1587-1945 (edited); and Battleship Bismarck: A Survivor's Story (translator).

Jack was the recipient of the U.S. Navy League's Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement, the Naval History Author of the Year Award, and the North American Society for Oceanic History's John Lyman Book Award, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2000.

After retirement and Gee and Jack’s move back to Orlando to be closer to family, he remained very involved with history projects, the US Naval Institute, and engaged constantly with his friends at home and overseas.

He was in top spirits until Gee’s sudden final illness in early 2019, after which he had gone silent, presumably from the despair of losing the love of his life. He is sorely missed and his friends only wished they had the opportunity to say goodbye and thank him for his wonderful friendship over the years.

Rest in peace, Professor Sweetman.

~ Anthony Gurnee - August 23, 2023

Dr Jack Sweetman was everything his last name meant. He was an entertaining storyteller, I enjoyed his many stories of war and history. He will be truly missed

~ Janelle White - October 30, 2019