Sullivan, Edward M.

Edward M. Sullivan, “Ed,” 95, of Canton, MA, and Naples, FL, passed away peacefully on November 25, 2023. Born in Boston, he was raised in Milton. Ed was a distinguished and cherished member of his community, known for his friendly nature, willingness to help others and his storytelling.

Ed was the beloved husband of the late Alyce Sullivan (Hennessey) and a devoted father to Karin A. Sullivan of Bellingham, Denise M. Sullivan of Bellingham, and Michelle S. McCarthy and her husband, Michael, of Canton. He was a proud grandfather to Julia and Caroline O’Connor of Needham and Sean and Estelle McCarthy of Canton. He was also the dear brother of the late Robert Sullivan and his wife, Patricia, of Milton and the late Eugene Sullivan and his wife, Clare, of Trumbull, CT. He was the brother-in-law of the late Dick Bachman (Elaine) of East Bridgewater and the late Paul Hennessey (June) of Hingham. Ed is also survived by many nieces, nephews and friends.

Growing up in Milton, Ed played all sports and flew his bicycle up and down the Milton hills. He graduated from Milton High School at 16 in 1945, where he was a member of the baseball team. He also loved big band music and played the trumpet in the Milton High School band. After high school, he formed the Kerrigan Cats, playing at establishments around Wollaston Beach. He furthered his education by becoming a Northeastern University Husky. In between sessions he was invited to play on a minor league baseball team and he played all over the south that summer. When asked to remain, he chose to return to college.

Graduating from Northeastern in 1950, he went to work at Gilchrist’s Department Store in Boston where his duties included personnel management. Due to his dashing good looks, he was asked to model suits for the Boston Globe. Ed then served his country in Korea, which had a lasting impact on his life. He often commented that he would have loved to have seen firsthand the progress made in South Korea that he had never thought possible, having seen so much devastation. In 2016, he was honored for his service with other Korean and Vietnam era veterans by an Honor Flight Mission to Washington, D.C. After the war, he returned to Gilchrist’s, but was soon recruited to a career that he often called “like non-other.” He worked at MIT-Lincoln Labs, managing a group of brilliant and eclectic post-WWII engineers building radar and defense systems. In 1959 he was brought over to the newly formed Mitre Corporation, where he continued to manage and direct an electronics systems packaging skills center. He had high-level security clearance and frequently traveled the country and the world working with top military officials at the Pentagon, air and army bases and other governmental and private entities. His family still doesn’t know what he really did for a living! Over the years he shared many an interesting tale about his job at Mitre, where he worked for the duration of his career, retiring in 1991.

In 1961, the 33-year-old bachelor married Alyce Hennessey and they settled in Canton, raising three daughters. Ed was the fun dad, playing in the pool or organizing ball games on the front lawn for the neighborhood kids. He instilled a love of travel in his daughters, often taking them with him on business trips. He enjoyed watching his daughters sporting and other activities. He was proud of his large garden where he annually produced a marvelous crop of summer vegetables. He was a huge Patriots fan and held season tickets for over 25 years and adored watching college basketball, particularly the women’s teams.

His commitment to service and community was a theme that would follow him throughout his life. Civic-minded Ed quickly became involved on many committees and boards in Canton. Ed was a past president of the Blue Hills Civic Association and in recognition of his dedication, they honored him as their Man of the Year. He spent 15 years on the Zoning Board of Appeals, eight as chairman. He was twice elected a Select Board member, serving from 1983 to 1989, two of those years as chairman.

Retirement did not slow him down, however. He became an active member of the Canton Association of Business and Industry, where he worked tirelessly to recruit new members. His last public service, and perhaps most meaningful to him, was as the chairman of the town water/sewer rate and policy committee and as the town representative on the MWRA Advisory Board. This role was important to him to ensure that the town had quality water at the lowest rates. He was nostalgic about this role because his great-grandfather had been the water commissioner for the city of Boston at the turn of the century. In 2012, as a testament to his enduring impact on his community, the town of Canton dedicated the Neponset Water Treatment Facility in his name. Until his passing, Ed remained a trustee for the James and Beatrice Salah Family Foundation, which provides annual college scholarships to Canton seniors.

Over the years, Ed and Alyce enjoyed life, taking many nice trips together, including Hawaii, Bermuda, and sailing through the Bahamas and intercoastal waterways. They were members of the Milton Hoosic Club where they played lots of golf. Ed had a passion for boating, traveling with Alyce throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico to participate in navigation races on power boats. Ed was the past director of the North American Cruiser Association and the past commodore of the Narraganset Cruiser Association. As a boy, he fished with his grandfather, a Fall River firefighter, and maintained and shared that love of fishing with his family. He was a longtime member of the Blue Water Anglers Association and looked forward to his annual Block Island fishing tournament with the boys.

In retirement Ed became a founding member of the Edgewise Club, a group of retired Cantonites who would gather to discuss the world’s problems, which they never did because no one could get a word in edgewise. He and Alyce spent many happy years as snowbirds, settling in Foxfire Golf and Country Club in Naples, FL, where they participated in lots of shenanigans with good friends. As he grew older, Ed spent more time in Florida. He lost many friends and family through the years but had an ability to adapt and easily made new friends of all ages. His last years were spent enjoying dinners at his golf club and holding court with his very, very dry martini and cigar during happy hours where on any given evening, between two and 12 neighbors would arrive at his front lanai to enjoy each other’s company and listen to his interesting life stories.

Ed Sullivan was a man who truly made a difference, and he will be deeply missed by all who were fortunate enough to know him.

Visiting hours at the Dockray & Thomas Funeral Home, 455 Washington Street, Thursday (today) from 4-7 p.m. Funeral Mass in St. Oscar Romero Church in Canton Friday at 10 a.m. Burial Milton Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ed’s memory to the Canton Veterans Services Department, 801 Washington St., Canton, MA 02021.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Nov 30 2023. Filed under Obituaries. Both comments and pings are currently closed.