Perry Family Tree

Michael Clemons has invited you to PERRY Family Tree on Ancestry.com, a place where we can learn more about our family history and share what we discover, together. You can view and print this family tree as well as historical records, images, stories, etc. that are attached to it.

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Bill Sullivan was always a star

Bill Sullivan, star athlete, respected businessman and family man, died Friday in Hiouchi at the age of 69.

Sullivan struggled with Alzheimer’s, a progressive disease that destroys brain cells, for several years. But on Tuesday, he was remembered as an athletic, hard-working, generous and humorous man.

“He embodied every good thing you look for in a person,” said his oldest son, Mike Sullivan, a county supervisor. “A lot of people wait a lifetime to find a mentor. He was somebody that I idolized. He was my mentor from the day I was born.”

Some of the words Mike Sullivan used to describe his father included “generous,” “honest” and “great sense of humor.” He was also a successful businessman and active volunteer in the community who devoted a great deal of his time to youth athletics.

William Leo Sullivan was born April 26, 1940, in Eureka. After his family moved to Crescent City in 1955, he became a star athlete at Del Norte High School, where he won White Star honors in football, baseball and basketball.

He was also student body president and attended Boys State in Sacramento in high school. He was, as his son said, an “overall high achiever.”

Tom Cochran and Bill Sullivan graduated together from DNHS in 1958 and remained friends for more than 50 years.

“Bill was always the star,” Cochran said. “He was a natural, he did things well — lots of good things.”

Sullivan earned a full-ride football scholarship to Oregon State University and was backup quarterback to Terry Baker, who won the Heisman Trophy.

After graduating from OSU in 1962, Sullivan enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in South Korea. He married his wife Karen in 1968 — they recently celebrated their 40th anniversary — and had three children: Mike, Joe and Grant.

A lot of people probably remember Sullivan as the owner of Baker and Stanton Furniture Store — which he took over from his father Leo — for more than 30 years.

“A lot of people have said they got their first piece of furniture from him,” Mike Sullivan said, explaining how his father gave many in-store credit if they couldn’t afford something. “He would give it to them and say, ‘Let’s work it out.’”

The old athlete never left Bill Sullivan. He supported youth athletic programs and was a football and basketball coach at DNHS and attended many games.

Early on in the decade, Mike Sullivan said his father started showing the signs of Alzheimer’s. As the disease progresses, most people tend to lose their memory and personality before losing the ability to breathe and eat on their own.

“Physically, he was still there, but his mind checked out a couple of years ago,” Sullivan said. “He would get a lucid moment and his personality and humor would come through.”

Those moments were not enough to erase the pain of losing someone prematurely.

“For the last year and a half, it was really tough for the family and I’m sure it was for him,” Sullivan said. “There’s no way of knowing what he was thinking up until the end.”

Bill Sullivan lived for a while at the Del Norte Senior Center and then resided at the Heritage Place Assisted Living & Alzheimer's Care Facility in Bandon, Ore.

Mike Sullivan said Tuesday there is a “screaming need” for an Alzheimer’s care facility in Del Norte County. He said it was frustrating for his father, after living most of his life here, to have to go all the way to Bandon for care.

Cochran remembered visiting Bill Sullivan in Bandon, thinking he would spend an hour with his friend.

“Bill was done talking with me in 15 minutes,” Cochran said. “Bill was off in another world. He wasn't the Bill I knew — he had changed.”

When it became apparent that the end might be near, it was important to the family that he return to his home in Hiouchi, Mike Sullivan said.

“Sometimes I think it’s harder to think about my son being without his grandfather than me being without a dad,” he said. “He meant a lot to a lot of different people. You could depend on Dad, he was always there for you.”

Molly and Jack

Sullivan Vitamins

http://sullivanvitamins.com

My BLOG

Hi everyone,

I just updated my website and thought you might want to check it out. To visit, just click on the links below or paste the URLs into your browser.

MPC's World http://www.mpclemons.com
Desiderata (Desired things)

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Made on a Mac

Phoebe and Tina

We have a new address:

3-50-2-305 Minami Asagaya
Suginami-ku, Tokyo 166 Japan

BIRTHDAY CALENDAR

JANUARY
Scott Silver

FEBRUARY
Molly Sullivan

MARCH
Michael Sullivan
Stacey Ellis

APRIL

MAY
Joe Sullivan
Sandra Ellis
Michael Clemons

JUNE
Jim Ellis
Grant Sullivan
Manny Garcia

JULY

AUGUST
Karen Sullivan
Jack Sullivan

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER
Melissa Silver

NOVEMBER
Shinji Suzuki

DECEMBER
Sean Ellis
Mary Sullivan
Blake Sullivan

January 2010

This blog is to carry on what my Mom had started with her Longworth Legacy Leaflet. My objective is to include all birthdays, anniversaries and news from all of the family members to help everyone keep in touch better.

Love,

Michael P.