Ex-Cobb school board member remembered at memorial service

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Scott Sweeney’s sons, Gabe and Jake Sweeney, are both Walton HS graduates.

Family members and friends of Scott Sweeney gathered Monday to remember the former member of the Cobb Board of Education whose public service embodied a man they said was defined by kindness and respect.

Sweeney, who represented a portion of East Cobb for two terms on the Cobb school board from 2011-19, died July 10 at the age of 68. The cause of death has not been disclosed.

During a memorial service Monday at Mt. Bethel Church, his sons and brother at times struggled to put into words what Sweeney meant to them.

“As much as I hate to know you’re gone, I know you’re in a better place,” said Jake Sweeney, who describes his father as having a sense of humor “that I was glad I got from him.

“You want me to stay strong and keep going but there’s a void in my heart. I wish we could have more laughs together.”

Jake Sweeney speaks at his father’s memorial service.

Gabe Sweeney, who like his brother graduated from Walton High School, said his father “made us into the sons he was proud of.”

Scott Sweeney, who was in the restaurant industry for many years, loved to cook and avidly followed sports.

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Sweeney graduated from UCLA. He stayed in the Los Angeles area where he met his wife, Sandy.

Sweeney’s younger brother Cordell followed him to Southern Calfornia on a football scholarship and stayed there. At Monday’s service, Cordell Sweeney called his older brother “the rock of our family” who was like a father figure to him.

In the days before his death, Cordell Sweeney said he and his brother e-mailed each other often. In the last message, Scott Sweeney signed off by saying “life is too short for bad food.”

After moving to Georgia and starting a family, Scott Sweeney became a business advisor, most recently at InPrime Legal, an East Cobb firm that provides outsourced legal services to businesses.

Cordell Sweeney called his older brother “a father figure.”

He was elected twice as a Republican to Post 6 on the Cobb school board but was defeated in 2018. After that, he served on the Georgia Board of Education and in 2025, was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp to serve on the State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia.

Rev. Dr. Jody Ray, the senior pastor at Mt. Bethel, where Sweeney was an active, member, told the Sweeney sons that “your father was a good man. He was a leader and he always did things the right way.

“Scott’s time is passed, but the question that is asked of all of us is: Are you prepared for when you time comes? Have you lived the life that you’ve been called to live? And are you ready for the next one?”

You can watch the full service and see family photos by clicking here.

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