Sean Michael McWeeney

SEAN MICHAEL MCWEENEY, age 87, of Reston, VA, passed away on April 11, 2026, surrounded by his family. Sean, also known as Pops or Dad to his children, and Papa to his 14 grandchildren, lived a fulfilling life focused on his strong Catholic faith, beloved family, tireless work ethic, and his illustrious federal law enforcement career.

Born on October 10, 1938, in Chicago, Illinois, to Irish immigrant parents, Thomas and Lillian McWeeney, Sean was the third child of his parents; his siblings, Patrick, James, Thomas (“Buddy”), Maureen (McGuire), Daniel, and Kevin, are now deceased, with the only remaining sibling being the youngest, Thomasina (Volkman). Sean grew up in Chicago, attending Catholic schools, working numerous odd jobs with his brothers, and being kept out of trouble by his strict parents. He obtained his undergraduate degree from DePaul University in 1961, where he served as the President of his senior class. Most importantly, he fell in love with Joan Ann Hennessy (deceased 2005). They were married for forty-two years and went on to have six children together: Kristin, Jim, Julie, Tom, Merrilee (deceased), and Sean, Jr.

A lifelong patriot and defender of his country, Sean served as an officer in the U.S. Navy (Newport, Rhode Island) between 1962-1965. During this time, he obtained a master’s in business administration degree from the University of Rhode Island.

Sean’s service to his country continued when he joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), where he honorably served between 1965-1988 in a range of executive level roles that led him and his family around the country to New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Providence, New York, Portland, OR, and HQ/Washington, DC (twice), where he ultimately retired and settled in Northern Virginia.

Sean was immensely proud of his tenure in the FBI, where he played an instrumental role fighting organized crime and successfully breaking the feared mafia. In 1970, while serving in the New York City office as a Case Agent, he was the arresting officer of Carlo Gambino, the notorious “boss of bosses” of the United States La Cosa Nostra families. From 1979-1985, Sean served as Section Chief of the Organized Crime section and was later assigned in 1986 as the first Inspector in Charge of the Office of Liaison and International Affairs. So his children and grandchildren would better understand his many exploits, he wrote a book titled “Up by the Bootstraps” (2023).

After Sean retired from the FBI as a Deputy Assistant Director in October 1988, he and Joan started a global risk management and consulting company, Corporate Risk International (CRI). Sean was thrilled that his wife Joan, sons Jim, Tom, and his daughter-in-law, Brigid, as well as many retired senior-level FBI agents, worked with him for many years at the company. Between 1990 and 2010, Sean led the growth of an international investigations, due diligence, crisis management, and response company that ultimately became one of the top two firms in the world handling kidnap, ransom, and extortion incidents. In 1994, Sean was honored to serve as the President of The Society of Former Special Agents, which required that he and Joan travel to many events as the FBI’s representative. CRI was successfully sold in 2010 to private equity and shortly thereafter merged with Kroll, Inc., where Sean served as a Senior Advisor from 2010 to 2013.

Sean’s family was his greatest love and achievement. He was a dedicated husband, father, and grandfather. Even though he had a time-intensive career, he coached his kids’ basketball and baseball teams, followed his children/grandchildren in their schooling and career milestones, and served his Parish, St. Mark’s, as an usher, Catechist, and in his later years was part of the Lay Leadership. Sean was a diligent caretaker during Joan’s long illness and subsequent death in 2005.

He felt extraordinarily fortunate to find another love in his life, Millie Cronin, whom he married in 2007. They had nineteen wonderful years together, filled with laughter, travels all over the world, visits to children/grandchildren, and many shared meals with relatives and friends. Sean especially enjoyed golfing daily with friends at Westwood Country Club, where he participated in many of the Club’s tournaments.

Sean is survived by his beloved family: wife Millie Cronin; his children and their spouses Kristin and John Harms, Jim and Brigid McWeeney, Julie and Dr. John Murray, Tom and Susan McWeeney, and Sean, Jr. and Rose McWeeney; his fourteen grandchildren Siobhan, Maeve, Ronan, and Cillian Harms; Mary Kathryn, Patrick Bugas-McWeeney (Thomas), and Aidan McWeeney; Jack (Megan) and Caroline Murray; Sinead, Hennessy, Merrilee, and Leitrim McWeeney; and Dillon McWeeney; Millie Cronin’s children Kelly, Carol (Gary Kessler) and Michael.

Family and friends are invited to attend the Visitation on Friday, April 24, 2026, between 4:00-8:00pm at Money & King Funeral Home, 171 Maple Avenue W., Vienna, VA 22180. A Funeral Mass will be held on Saturday, April 25, 2026, at 11:00am at St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church, 9970 Vale Road, Vienna, VA, 22181, immediately followed by Burial at Fairfax Memorial Park, 9900 Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032. A luncheon to celebrate Sean’s life will be held at approximately 2:00pm with details to follow.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent either to the McWeeney Family Endowed Scholarship supporting underprivileged and underrepresented students at DePaul University’s Driehaus College of Business, or The Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI.

The McWeeney Family Endowed Scholarship at DePaul University

https://socxfbi.org/SFSA/SFSA/FoundationPages/Foundation-Welcome.aspx