Tom Sullivan Remembers his Sullivan Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles

Excerpt from "Note About Things I Remember" by Thomas A. Sullivan, March 4, 1996.

Sullivan Grand Parents

"My paternal grandfather died when I was about three, c1911, and grandmother Sullivan when I was about eight, c1916.  They came from Ireland and had a grocery store on Shalto [Sholto] St. in Chicago, where the children were born.  Then they retired to a large old home in Evanston where I knew them.  Grandfather had a white goatee and we had little in common, however, grandmother [Ellen Connor Sullivan] would serve me mashed potatoes with catsup which I loved, but of which my Mother took a dim view and wouldn't serve at home.  When she died I wanted very much to go to her funeral, but for some reason I was not allowed."

The home in Evanston that Tom remembers was located at 833 Madison St.

Sullivan Aunt and Uncles

• Ann, the oldest child married a man who lived in West Chicago, so I only met her once.  [Ann married James Gahagan.  She was the second oldest child after Mary.]
• Mary, a lovely lady, was the matriarch who kept the boys together.   She visited us frequently as her son, Charles, was my age and we went to school together.  He was a good baseball player and got an appointment to West Point, was wounded in Patton's Army and ended up a major general.  [Mary married Thomas Hoy; Charles Hoy would be the person who went to West Point.]
• Jay, the oldest of my Father's brothers, had a bad leg and I only saw him at funerals. [Jay married Viola Ericson.]
• Frank was a plumber.  He had a wife, Maggie, who was deeply involved in the church ladies auxiliary.  He was fairly close to my Father. [Frank married Margaret "Maggie" Sweeney]
• Peter married a semi-wealthy woman whose father owned a grain storage business (Dickinson?).  He moved in more sophisticated business circles, didn't see him much.  Rumor had it that his business profiteered somehow during WWII. [Peter married Anne Stange]
• Alex [Tom's Father] went to St. Ignatius College for two years and quit to become a steamfitter and get married.  He was a journeyman later a foreman, then a superintendent. The company gave him a car to go among jobs to supervise progress and expedite material.  Proficient with blueprints and estimating costs.  The 1931-34 depression bankrupted his company.  He ended up working for the city.  Heavy smoking affected his heart, brought on retirement and death. [Alex married Ellen "Nell" Madigan]
• Michael died in infancy [Michael was 21 in 1902 when he died. He never married]
• Charles was a Jesuit priest, assigned to Resurrection parish every Sunday.  He would come to our home for Sunday dinner and we became quite close.  After Margaret and I married we had him over a few times.
• Phil, the youngest, worked on LaSalle Street in the commodity market.  When the parents died the family gave him their inheritance, about $50,000 to buy a membership in the Chicago Board of Trade.  Everyone was going to get rich. Unfortunately, he needed additional cash to hold commodity futures positions temporarily.  The cost of financing ate up any earnings and he went bankrupt. [Phil married Nonie Mahoney.]