Marjorie A. Sweitzer

Rensselaer- Marjorie Ann Sweitzer, first daughter of Robert H. Sweitzer and Elizabeth V. Donohue Sweitzer, died in the early morning hours of Saturday, December 28, 2019. Born April 24, 1944 in Lackawanna, NY, she attended Mount Mercy Academy Buffalo until, in 1959, she followed her family to Rensselaer. There, she graduated from St. John's Academy as President of the Class of 1962. A long-time employee of NY Tax & Finance, she later served as an administrator at the NY State Health Research Institute and the AIDS Institute. She was a Board member and organizer for the NY State Women's Leadership Conference, a Democratic Committeeperson in Rensselaer County, a candidate for public office in the Town of East Greenbush, a cheerleading coach for East Greenbush Pop Warner, a Parish Council member at St. Mary's Clinton Heights, a member of the ACLU and an active volunteer in the local arts community, including at Schenectady Light Opera Company. Marjorie was Chairperson of CARE, a statewide organization which spearheaded the adoption of New York legislation codifying gender equity in the accrual of pension benefits, for which she received a commendation from the NY State Comptroller. She is survived by her four children, Christine Eriole Bugbee, Joseph (Josephine) Eriole, Susan Eriole, and Mark (Bridget) Eriole, their father and her husband of 21 years, Victor Eriole; her siblings Donald (Sheri) Sweitzer, Eileen Sweitzer (Thomas) Grant, and Robert (Kathleen) Sweitzer, her ten grandchildren, Carolyn Bugbee, Matthew and Elizabeth Eriole, Ian, Lily and Christopher McGuirk, and Wyatt Cozzy, Olivia, Maya, and Lucas Eriole. She is also mourned by a multitude of dear cousins, nieces, nephews and in-laws, and her beloved companion of many years, Thomas Daniel Mara. Calling hours will be 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 2, at W.J. Lyons, Jr. Funeral Home, 1700 Washington Ave., Rensselaer, with a service at 10 a.m. Friday, January 3 at the Church of St. John the Evangelist at 52 Herrick Street, Rensselaer. Marjorie will be laid to rest near her parents in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. Donations in her memory may be made to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital 501 St. Jude Place Memphis, TN 38105.