From our files: Take a closer look at images of the people and places of the Erie region: Holiday Inn, the Rev. Ernest Smith, Leap Frog sculptures, more.
One of Erie’s most distinguished military heroes, Col. Dennis McSweeney, died of cancer at 79 this month in Williamsburg, Virginia. McSweeney, honored in recent years as an Outstanding Alumnus of Gannon University, won a Purple Heart for his heroism during the Vietnam war. He commanded U.S. military bases in Germany and later served as an official at the Pentagon. Born in Erie, he never lost his affection for his hometown. After his mother, Charlotte McSweeney, longtime switchboard operator at the Erie Times-News, suffered a stroke, he packed up his family and moved back to Erie to help during her convalescence.