A tribute to Elizabeth Abbott Sweeten

By MARTHA McCLAIN
Special to the PRESS

Elizabeth Abbott Sweeten was a very colorful person: strong, independent, opinionated, generous to a fault, and quite intelligent.

She was a friend, in addition to being a quality journalist. She came to the Laguna Madre Area in the mid 1970s when the Island was booming. Steve Elam, publisher of the Port Isabel-South Padre PRESS, hired her as a staff reporter during a time when Friday afternoon “tree-toping” ceremonies were commonplace on South Padre. During that time, newspapers were also booming. As editor, I was fortunate to have Elizabeth on staff. We hired her away from the Edinburg Daily Review where she was, believe it or not, society editor. She joined the team at the PRESS that included Betty Wells, Jeff Keplinger, Melba Meyn, Leticia Martinez, and others who came and went over the years.

Elizabeth’s forte was straight news, and she wrote her stories as she saw them. Whether it was covering the Water District, Navigation District or School District, she was unbiased, relied on facts and hunted-down the truth…and almost always found it, much to the dismay of some politicians.

Her ability to write as a journalist, although never formally trained, was remarkable. She could have been a novelist, screenwriter or virtually anything she desired. But for those who knew Elizabeth, knew she was stubborn and rather set in her ways. She was an avid reader and loved the works of philosopher Nietzsche, among others.

Elizabeth was raised in Mission, Texas, attended St. Paul’s Catholic School and graduated from Mission High School. She attended one semester at Ball State College in Indiana, before deciding she couldn’t afford it, she said. She returned to the Valley, and eventually the Edinburg newspaper.

She lived life on her terms. I recall her saying during her 20s while she was at the PRESS, that she did not expect to live to become 30. Well she did live past 30…in fact, she doubled that, and at 61, left this world in a tragic way.

Elizabeth left an impression on everyone at the PRESS, and many in the Laguna Madre Area. Her strength and resolve will be sorely missed. All I can say is –30–. As a journalist, she would know what it means.

Want the whole story? Pick up a copy of the Port Isabel-South Padre Press, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2018/03/09/a-tribute-to-elizabeth-abbott-sweeten/

1 comment

    • Felipe on August 18, 2018 at 9:48 pm
    • Reply

    We lived in Port Isabel from OCT 2014 through JAN 2018. I ran into Liz during one of my early walks with my two Yorkie Terries. Whenever she saw me, she tended to walk towards us to greet me, pet and talk to the Yorkies. I saw her often walking to the Stripes store for groceries and Texas Lottery tickets. After her partner Alan died, she walked around the park with Alan’s dog Peanut. She initially had a hard time with Peanut, but eventually developed a bond with him. As you wrote in your article, she was very intelligent, but tended to be reserved. She loved to talk about the weather and local plants. I knew little about her except what she wanted me to know. We were shocked when we read about her death. I wonder what happened to Peanut. We will pray for her.

Leave a Reply to Felipe Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

 

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.