1. Joseph V. Sullivan, a proud New
Yorker, World War II Veteran and my
grandfather died on Friday after a
long, spirited battle with Prostate
Cancer. He was 87.
Joe lived most of his life in the Bronx.
He grew old without a driver's license
or meeting a stranger. If he was in the
room you knew there would be talk,
there would be laughter and, within a
few minutes, there wouldn't be any
more shrimp on the buffet.
As a native New Yorker he loved the
Yankees. He would tell his great-
grandson stories about seeing Babe
Ruth play, stories about the greatness
of Joe DiMaggio and stories of how
George Steinbrenner took the joy out
of baseball. The good stories always
started with "In Nineteen Fifty-
seven....", the best ones "Well, Did
You Know...".
Later in life he met and wooed his wife - Mary Wright (nee Callahan). They met, appropriately for a South Buffalo
girl, in a bar in Miami. Mary claims she thought the bar was a hot dog stand and she was just hungry, but she
stayed for the drinks and conversation and a short decade later married the man from New York. They were
married in 1977, and in an afternoon he became a husband, father and grandfather. He was 57, she was
younger...
After getting married the couple moved to New York City as Joe was still working for the municipal government.
After two years Mary longed for the comforts of South Buffalo and Joe sought out a new adventure. Joe adopted
his new home town and became an ardent Bills Backer and true Sabres fan. Knowing his oldest grandson was a
passionate Sabres fan who was now living 500 miles from his favorite team, Grandpa Joe sent clippings from the
Buffalo News whenever the Sabres were noteworthy. In the process he kept a young kid connected to the team he
still loves, 30 years later.
Joe was a voracious reader. He devoured novels, usually three at a time. His library card would wear out before
it expired. He enjoyed mystery novels and loved finding new writers in the genre, if only because he had already
finished with Christie, Chandler and Hammett...
Joseph V. Sullivan, the only person in his family to see his 80th birthday, reached the end of the line three months
past his 87th. In his own words, he had a hell of a good ride. In lieu of flowers, Joe would prefer you offer a toast
to a well read life, preferably with a Tanqueray and Tonic.
