Clifford Sweetman

Clifford, or "Cliff", as he preferred to be called, was born on July 18, 1923, in Madoc, Ontario, Canada. His family moved from Madoc to Toronto, and then to Belleville, where he lived until he passed away, or should I say, until he relocated to Heaven, on June 7, 2001.

His mother was, Florence Rebecca Trotter (birth name) Cook (adopted name) Sweetman

His father was Charles Henry Sweetman, born August 20, 1887, in Walthamstow, Essex country, England.

Dad had 2 sisters, Olive and Ruth, and 2 brothers, Ross and Ralph

Dad married Beatrice Wood on October 30, 1943, and had 3 children, Gary, Stephen (Steve - that's me) and Constance (Connie)

He has 8 grandchildren;
through Gary, Carole and David,
through Steve, Jeremy and Jonathan
through Connie, Matthew, Leah, Nathaniel, and Benjamin.

He has 3 great grandchildren to date;
through Carol, daughter of Gary, Daniel and Christiana
through Leah, daughter of Connie, Giulietta

The number one highlight of Cliff's life was when he "was born again," as he would have put it. He became a Christian in 1957 when his son Steve, known as Stevie back then, was miraculously healed of Juvenile Diabetes at the age of 6, after friends prayed to Jesus for his healing.

Cliff loved trains and guitars.

He worked for the Canadian National Railroad for well over 40 years, as did his father. Model trains and photos of trains could be seen throughout his house.

Cliff played acoustic guitar, or "flat top guitar," as he and others of his era called it. He also played steel guitar, Dobro, and harmonica, and could often be heard playing in the basement of his home.

He had his own country-music band in the late 1940's and early 1950's. The band had its own radio station on CJBQ radio, Belleville. It played at square dances throughout the Quinte, Ontario, region.

After becoming a Christian he played guitar in church services across southern Ontario. You could often see him playing his steel guitar at camp meetings.

For more info or enquiries, please email me, Steve, Cliff's son, at;

ssweetman11@cogeco.ca

Read my article about dad.
Dad's Guitar - 1 Timothy 6:7


family photo - 1990	Cliff and Beatrice - 1987

Cliff and Beatrice - 1993	2000

early years of Cliff	late 1950's - Cliff playing triple neck steel at the Free Methodist Church in Frankford, Ontario.

1947 - 48 at CJBQ radio Cliff is on far right playing steel guitar also, Johnny Lloyd, Jim McConnel, Ross Sweet, Art Sweet, Clarance Rivers.	Oct. 16, 1948 at CJBQ radio Cliff is sitting playing lap steel also, Phil Flagler CJBQ announcer at desk, Johnny Lloyd on bass, Art Sweet fiddle, Ross Sweet guitar, Cam ? square dance caller.