By the family

Oct. 28, 2024: It is with profound sorrow and a heavy heart that I relay the news of the sudden and unexpected passing of my younger sister, Deidre “Didi” Leigh McSweeney - Tyson on May 2 in Breckenridge, CO. She had flown there the day before to attend the college commencement exercise for her daughter, Julia, on May 3 at Colorado Mountain College. Tragically, she missed it by less than 24 hours. She had been looking forward to this day for quite some time.

After high school, Didi took what we now call a gap year and worked as an au pair in Paris and London for Ruth and Richard Rogers, one of the architects behind the construction of the Pompidou Center in the Beaubourg area of Paris. It was during this time of her life when she realized that she loved children and wanted to become a pediatrician.

She attended SUNY at Stony Brook majoring in French and biology. She went on to New York Medical College in Valhalla, NY and graduated in 1986. It is here where she met her future husband and was married in May of that year.

She received her training at Columbia Presbyterian and Harlem Hospital, and finished with a specialty in pediatric endocrinology,
treating kids with diabetes and other endocrine issues.

She and her husband moved to Richmond, VA shortly thereafter where she worked for over 25 years at Children’s and St. Mary’s Hospitals. She
was loved by her little patients, who could easily relate to her since at 4’11”, she was petite herself.

In 1993, she gave birth to her first child, a son, Matthew Edward and in 1996, a daughter, Julia Leigh. Her children were everything to her.

In 2017, she moved to Yreka in northern California where she took a two year post with the Indian Health Service as a general pediatrician
for the Karuk Indian Tribe. She just loved this chapter of her life - both the beautifully scenic but rugged country and her work with the Native Indian children and adults.

In 2020, she moved back to the East Coast and settled in Florence, SC, where she worked for MacLeod Medical Center filling a huge void in
medical care for kids with diabetes. Her work was her pride and joy. She touched the lives of many kids and their parents.

In June, 2023, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and in August retired at age 65 to Nashville, TN, where her son, Matthew, and
his fiance, live. They are to be married in November, 2024.

Didi was predeceased by her parents, and is survived by her son, Matt, his fiancé, Hannah, her daughter, Julia, her older sister, Kinnet
McSweeney Ehring, her younger brother, David McSweeney, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews, and friends, who adored her.

A memorial service is planned for sometime in 2025.

In lieu of flowers, we are requesting donations in her memory be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Please
ensure that her name, Deidre McSweeney-Tyson is included in the donation. Thank you all for loving Didi.

Notes of condolences may be sent to:

-Kinnet Ehring 12 Willow Street West Barnstable, MA 02668
-David McSweeney  138 Third Avenue Mount Pleasant, SC 29464
-Matthew Tyson 4416 Sunday Silence Way Murfreesboro, TN 37128
-Julia Tyson PO Box 7903 Breckenridge, CO 80424