LAWRENCE — Anna Sullivan, in one of her last visits with family, held hands with baby Isaiah, her 10-month-old great grandson.
Anna Ruth (Abate) Sullivan
A short time later, the matriarch and local business pioneer would die peacefully in her sleep at age 97.
Officially, Anna was mother to four, grandmother to nine and great grandmother to one.
But throughout the Merrimack Valley, she was regarded as a maternal figure, professional leader and role model to so many more.
She “exemplified a loving mother and a good friend who had the stamina and resilience to balance her home life and her career and to be successful at both important endeavors,” said Pamela Driscoll of Lawrence, a longtime worker at the T.A. Sullivan Insurance and Real Estate Agency.
Widowed unexpectedly in 1970 at age 45, Sullivan went on to run the successful Greater Lawrence insurance and realty business while raising four boys — two of whom would become mayors of Lawrence.
“She was just really good at multi-tasking ... and she had really good solid friends and family,” said her son, Michael, 66, who served as Lawrence mayor from 2002 to 2010.
Michael’s younger brother, Kevin, 63, was Lawrence mayor from 1986 to 1994. Brother Mark, 59, is an attorney, and Thomas, 67, obtained advanced degrees in the insurance profession.
“She wanted us to work hard and to help others and to keep a really good family network ... That’s what she was all about,” Michael said.
Her survivors include her best friend of more than 90 years, Ruth Rogers Moore. and every Thursday she had her hair done by her longtime hairdresser Priscilla Hebert, family members said.
One of 10 children, Anna graduated from Lawrence High School in 1943 and then attended the McIntosh School of Business. She met her husband, Thomas Augustine Sullivan, a Purple Heart World War II veteran, at Canobie Lake Park in Salem, N.H.
The first insurance office was the bottom floor of their South Union Street home.
On Aug. 19, 1970, Thomas died unexpectedly of a heart attack.
Having the local business allowed his mother to work and take care of her family, said Michael, who was 12 at the time of his father’s death.
“The family business kept everyone together,” he added.
Over the years, as the business grew, Anna was involved in the Board of Realtors, the state association of independent insurance agencies, the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce and served on the boards of numerous non-profits.
When Kevin and Michael ran for mayor, Anna was right there hosting coffees, holding campaign signs or lending advice if asked.
“She was always encouraging us to ‘Go for it ... Because if you don’t, you’ll never know,’” said Michael, echoing his mother’s words. “She was always there if we needed her.”
Nora Carroll Bevilacqua worked at City Hall while Michael was mayor. “I had the honor of spending time with her throughout the years and she always welcomed me with a smile and a hug,” she said.
“Her sole focus was her four sons after losing her husband unexpectedly. Friends quickly became family in the Sullivan household and she was second mother to many. She was a true pillar of the City of Lawrence and the Merrimack Valley who will be greatly missed,” Bevilacqua said.
Anna initially asked Pamela Driscoll if she could fill in for a “few weeks” while one of the employees at the insurance company was recuperating.
“That was 18 years ago and I am still happily working at T.A. Sullivan Insurance agency,” Driscoll said.
Driscoll recalled Anna coming into the office daily, sipping her Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, as she sat across from her doing paperwork.
“She would often look up and ask about my family and how I was doing having two active boys who loved their sports. Her genuine interest in my family never subsided. I will also always remember her for her kindness, integrity and our common bond of ‘family first,’” Driscoll said.
Generous of both hand and heart, Anna often treated her workers to lunch and gave everyone a thoughtful gift each Christmas, Driscoll said.
“She took the time to listen and made us feel valued and respected with her smile and words of praise,” she said. “She was a remarkable woman who has left a legacy of love of family and devotion to doing the right thing and make the world a better place.”the
David Abdoo, a family friend and longtime Lawrence city councilor, described “Mrs. Sullivan as a remarkable woman of faith, a widow who raised four highly successful men, devoted mother and grandmother, and a successful business woman herself who was held in high regard by many in Lawrence and the Merrimack Valley.”
Abdoo said that “over the last 30 years, I have witnessed first-hand how Mrs. Sullivan has been by each of her sons’ side as they proved successful in business, law, and public service with sons Kevin and Michael each serving two terms as mayor of Lawrence. Her immense pride in her children’s political, professional, and personal successes was evident in the omnipresent smile on her face as she was a ubiquitous presence at civic events. Family was obviously the world to her, and she raised a remarkable family.”
Abdoo said Anna “may be the most impactful woman in the history of Lawrence.”
“She was leading the way for women in the business community of Lawrence when many were not yet in the workplace, all while raising four boys by herself, four boys that she equipped with the skills and discipline to be highly educated and successful in their chosen fields. She was an extraordinary woman of strength, an incredibly loving mother and grandmother, and a community legend. She will be dearly missed,” Abdoo noted.
Anna’s wake is Wednesday from 3 to 7 p.m. at the John Been Funeral Home, 122 Amesbury St., Lawrence.
Her funeral is at 9 a.m. Thursday at St. Patrick’s Church, 118 So. Broadway, Lawrence. Burial to follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery.
Donations in her memory can be made to Lawrence Catholic Academy, lawrencecatholicacademy.net.
Follow staff reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter @EagleTribJill.
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