About Tim. First Tee recently lost a board director, friend, mentor, and beloved member of our Madison community, Tim Sweeney. Tim served on the board for First Tee – South Central Wisconsin for 4 years and also served as an Executive Committee member and Chair of our Governance Committee.

A Wisconsin All-State football player and a Madison All-City basketball and baseball player for Edgewood High School, he went on to Notre Dame, where as a walk-on quarterback he was part of coach Ara Parseghian’s 1966 national championship team. His football career was cut short by injury, and he went on to play on the Notre Dame baseball team. He graduated with an economics degree in 1970. In 1999, he was inducted into the Edgewood High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

After college, Tim and Ann, who were high school sweethearts and married for 51 years, became teachers at the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. In 1975, he earned a degree from the University of South Dakota School of Law before returning to Madison, where he has practiced law ever since. He was most recently with Neider and Boucher, S.C., in Madison.

Tim served on numerous non-profit boards over his almost five decades of service to the Madison community, including a decades long commitment to Edgewood High School where he was on our first-ever Board of Trustees in the late 1980s and was a key player in overseeing Edgewood’s campus master plan. Tim was an integral First Tee board member and led the Governance Committee’s efforts to recruit and establish accountability standards for members.

Tim’s passing came as a tragic surprise to all, but we can be comforted by the legacy he left, filled with his warm smile, enduring wisdom, loving heart, and a wonderful sense of humor.

Scholarship Opportunity. The Tim Sweeney Memorial Scholarship will be established by the First Tee in 2021 and be made available for Madison area middle school students to apply for high school tuition assistance and high school seniors to apply for college/university tuition assistance.  This scholarship will afford a First Tee participant the opportunity to continue their education at a local high school or college/ university of their choice.

Prior to COVID-19, First Tee – South Central Wisconsin served more than 15,000 area youth through their Learning Center remedial education and Green Grass character development programs. Tim’s philanthropic passions focused on youth development through access to quality education and athletic endeavors for all.

Give Today. Your donation to honor Tim Sweeney’s legacy will provide a road to success for deserving South Central Wisconsin youth.  You too can make an impact on our youth by contributing to the Tim Sweeney Memorial Scholarship today.

Contact Us.  Please contact First Tee – South Central Wisconsin for more information or any questions. Contact our Executive Director Ashlyn Mehlhaff – [email protected] – 608-467-7113.

Checks can be made out to First Tee SCW with memo line “Sweeney Scholarship” and sent to:

 5511 Odana Road, Madison, WI 53719

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