EDMUND SULLIVAN
- MEMORIES FROM HIS CHILDREN ON
THE 14TH YEAR OF HIS PASSING
Kevin 1/29/2010
Hi everyone,
including the Sullivan Family relatives who are new
to this process
Edzo, which was our
name for dad a/k/a Edmund for the last 15 years of
his life, was 86...6 of the 7 kids, along with
Connie, were at the hospital with him in FLA...we
said goodbye to dad and left around 10pm to go back
to Connie's for the night...we were just going to
sleep at 1130 when the phone rang with the nurse
shouting "he's dying"....you have never seen 7
people get dressed so fast. Mark broke all the speed
limits rushing to the hospital and all of us
sprinted to his room...there our wonderful dad was
DEAD...I'll never forget that moment...the nurse was
saying she was imploring Edzo to hang on for a few
min until we got there, but she said he didn't want
us to actually see him die. Amazingly, even though
he was a self-made man...lived a wonderful life and
we had been praying for several months that he be
taken, it was an Out-of-body experience to actually
see him passed....At that point, he was in Heaven
looking down on us with a big smile.
As you know, our
Cousins, Kathleen Kerwin and Mary Fitch, have
created the Sullivan Family website....these
remembrances will be added to the website under
Edmund...so let's get going
Love Kevin
Joan
Every Sunday
morning, the entire Sullivan clan would awake and go
to 9 o'clock Mass at our parish, Holy Cross Church.
We had to fast back then... at least 1 hour prior to
receiving communion, so breakfast was not eaten till
after Mass. We would arrive at church, and would all
file down the isle to the 3rd and 4th rows, on the
left. Girls usually first. Dad would be totally
beaming, as he was the proudest of father's showing
off his 7 beautiful children, esp. the girls! Only
kidding. And the Arlinghaus sons would be drooling
over Laura!
Then, back to the
house where we would scramble a dozen eggs, have
bacon, toast and OJ. Finished off by the cinnamon
buns Dad brought home from Horn and Hardart(?). They
were the best!!
All my love, Joan
Mark
Great story, Joan.
Dad loved the Military almost as much as
he loved our family. He was so proud
when I was accepted to West Point. I
remember the first time I came home for
leave my Plebe year…October 1979. I had
lost about 15 pounds (siblings: no
comments please!), and had a buzz cut,
too. He had me bring my “Full Dress”
(parade) uniform home to show it off
when we went to Navesink for dinner.
The Full Dress uniform is pretty sharp,
even if I do say so myself!
Anyway, many of you know that Big Ed had
a smile that could power a small city,
and I can still vividly see in my mind’s
eye his smile that night as he showed
off his baby boy to their good friends
at the club. It was never
brighter…except when he was with or
spoke about Mom.
I know he’s smiling down upon us today!
Love, Mark
Greg
Neither Arlinghaus boy ever married
after being spurned by Laura, fyi…when
Kevin and I were preparing to become
altar-boys (the Mass was said in Latin
so we had to memorize it all), Ed would
take us down to the playroom to walk us
thorough each element of the Mass,
including the Latin responses. Edzo
would role-play as the priest and he
would be so proud to have his sons (Mark
years later) prepare to assist the
priest at Mass. I remember when I served
my first Mass (6:30 am) and glancing
into the pews and seeing Edzo in the
front pew with a big smile on his face.
He always attributed his success in life
to his faith, and having his sons become
altar-boys were proud moments in his
life!
Greg, I
never knew that...Joan
Laura
Greg, Dad was disappointed when none of the
girls became nuns ~ ha ha......
That's about as true the Arlinghaus boy
being interested in me....
So my best memory of dad was his big
personality ....When dad was "on" he was
one of the most charismatic people I've
known. He was a man's man and a lady's
man.
When mom and dad entertained they gave
some great parties. Even though I was a
rebellious teenager I would love talking
to their friends. Later in the evening
after I'd return home I remember trying
to drift off to sleep around
1am.......But hearing frequent bursts of
uproarious laughter which came
invariably after a booming voice told
yet another joke (Irishman's curse) Or
dad and would do the "old soft shoe"
(with those long legs of his!) and kept
the party going..... even then I thought
they were cool for giving those parties.
Dad must have been late 50's and mom mid
40's.
Janet
I never
knew that either.
I remember the wonderful summer
barbecues we would have during the
summer months. Dad loved grilling those
hot dogs and cheeseburgers and Connie
would be inside cooking the corn and
slicing the Jersey tomatoes and french
fries. Connie would fry up an onion for
Dad (his favorite). After playing a
couple rounds of tennis trying to beat
the siblings we were all so happy to
have such a wonderful dinner. That was
the good old days on Blackpoint
Horseshoe.
Thanks
Dad and Mom. Janet
Janet,
What dessert went along with that? Joan
Mark
would know. Mark...? Janet
The
answer is the Sunkist orange or
lemon ice pops....how cooling! Joan
Megan
Hi
Everyone,
I am
here in Florida with Mom today on
the 14th anniversary of Dad's
passing. Mom started her day by
going to 8:30am Mass with her
friend, Elise Leddy, whose husband
died on the same date two years
before. This is a tradition that she
and Elise have done together for
some years and then they go out to
breakfast together. We then got
serious about the day and went
shopping (Dad would have been happy)
For lunch we had grilled cheese with
ketchup and those little green
olives with pimentos. (Dad would
have been happy again.) We went back
out for Round Two of shopping again
(Dad would have been happy as he
could have taken a nap and been
ready for the evening!) After
cocktails at the neighbor's home,
Mom and I had a very nice supper at
Tequesta Country Club which Dad
definitely would have loved! Dad
would have had a wedge of iceberg
lettuce with DOUBLE roquefort
dressing. He loved steaks and roast
beef and baked potatos...no
broccoli, though or garlic...and of
course he loved ice cream for
dessert.
Mom
and I just read everyone's
remembrances that Kathleen (so
beautifully, I might say) has added
to Dad's page for posterity. Mom
thanks everyone for their loving
thoughts.
