Joel Sweet passed away on January 17, 2023, in his home with his wife, Rita,
by his side. He was 81 years old.
Joel was born on August 15, 1941, in Morris, Illinois, to Merrill Henry Sweet and Lorraine Blanche Major.
He spent most of his childhood in Chesterton, Indiana, and
graduated from Evergreen Park (Illinois) High School in 1959. Joel entered Michigan
Technological University to study geophysics, but, in the spirit of the times, transferred
after his sophomore year to study aeronautical engineering at Purdue University in West
Lafayette, IN. There, Joel earned his bachelor’s (1964) and master’s (1965) degrees in
aeronautical engineering, and ultimately a doctorate in Engineering Mechanics in 1969.
Joel began his engineering career at Lockheed Corp. in Sunnyvale, CA, and Sandia
National Laboratory in Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA. Seeking a change from
the Defense industry, he spent a year at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. In
1973, he returned to California and began his lifelong career in Soil Mechanics. He
remained in the San Diego area for the next ~20 years as an independent consultant. In
that time he met his life-partner and soulmate, Rita. His was a career that saw him
traveling the globe to projects in Australia, France, The Netherlands, and more.
Throughout the years he also invested in real estate and pursued hobby farming in
California and Oregon with Rita. In January 1995, they settled down in Nevada City,
where Joel continued to consult before retiring from engineering in favor of these other
pursuits and simply enjoying life in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
Joel loved nature. As a boy, he would go birdwatching with his father year-round in
northwest Indiana. As a father, he took his children on countless camping trips and
long walks where they tried to learn from him how to silently(!) step on leaves and to
identify trees and the minerals in rocks. Joel had a sweet tooth and made the best
chocolate fudge and divinity candy. He was a renaissance man of sorts with an open, brilliant mind
and an irreverent sense of humor. A true mid-century guy who followed the call
of the brand new interstates that led out West. Being in nature; running; completing a marathon; the
49ers; Vincent Van Gogh; French cinema and Netflix; spy novels and historical
biographies; vintage cars that he personally restored; casinos/blackjack; climbing
Mount Kilimanjaro in street shoes when his hiking shoes were stolen; and his farms
completed a full life.
With the exception of cars— which skipped a generation— he shared all these interests
with his children and grandchildren. Most importantly, he grew as a person throughout
his entire life. To him, his wife, his children and grandchildren and their families who
loved him back were his true legacy. Joel is survived by his wife of 35 years, Rita; his
children, Kevin, Michelle, Marianne, and Christopher; his stepchildren, Kimberly, Amy,
and John; and his grandchildren, Eric, Zoe, Elizabeth, Rudy, Nicholas, Andre, and
Jason.
