Obituary of Joseph Aloysius Sullivan

In Loving Memory of

Joseph Aloysius Sullivan

On Saturday, August 26, 2017 at age 92, Joseph Aloysius Sullivan died peacefully at his home in Toronto. Beloved husband of the late Kathyrn Laura Brewster (1966). Loving father of Jim (Atchara) Sullivan of Hua Hin, Thailand; Mike (Lynda) Sullivan; and Sue Sullivan of Toronto. Adventurous grandpa of Jacqueline Gattens and Joseph Sullivan. Predeceased by his siblings, Eileen, Eleanor, David, Kathleen, Mary, Helen and Anne Marie.

A funeral mass will be held at The Roman Catholic Parish of Saint John, 794 Kingston Road ,Toronto at 10 a.m. on Thursday, August 31, 2017 followed by an informal reception at his home. NO FLOWERS PLEASE.

Joe will be remembered for his unique sense of humour, generosity, his personal principles and devotion to his friends and family.

He grew up on Margueretta Street in Toronto, not far from where his grandfather raised a family after leaving County Clare, Ireland during the famine. He dreamed of going to university but in 1941 was pulled out of high school to earn some money for the family in the mail room of Toronto Hydro on University Avenue. He later worked at Met-Wo Industries with his grade school friend Paul Grace where he met his beloved Kay Brewster.

They married in 1952, moved to London in 1958 and Joe was left a single dad with three young kids in 1966. He learned to cook (sort of) and kept the family together while working a large sales territory for Cow & Gate and then for Ross Laboratories, which was later acquired by Abbott Labs.  A nutritional products sales rep, Joe maintained many life-long friendships with dieticians and health care staff across southwestern Ontario, long past his reluctant retirement at 67.

Joe enjoyed sports, physical activity and telling jokes. One of his proudest achievements was training for and running the Boston Marathon in 1975 and some of his best times were spent golfing with his buddies in London and with Hugh Devine in Woodstock. It was recently discovered that his talent for writing silly biographical songs and poems performed for and with his Ross colleagues began with a poem published in the St. Michael’s College School year book in 1940.

A wonderful, funny and generous man.  He will be missed.

If desired, donations in lieu of flowers can be made to The War Amps, Nature Conservancy of Canada or National Pancreatic Cancer Canada Foundation. NO FLOWERS PLEASE.  (As Joe believed -- if it is worth saying, it is worth saying twice. Or more.)

Please share in your memories, photos and stories of his life and make memorial donations here at his Memorial Webpage.

Uniquely entrusted to eco Cremation & Burial Services Inc.

Life Celebrations. Done Differently.