Arlene Beth Sullivan

Arlene Beth Sullivan – Beloved daughter, sister, wife, mother, step-mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt and friend – passed away in Rochester, New York at Kirkhaven Home on March 14, 2025.

Arlene was born on April 17, 1936 in Hershey, Nebraska to Lyle and Bertie Dobson. The youngest of six (6) children, she was raised on a farm near Big Springs, Nebraska with her sister and four (4) brothers. When she was a teenager, she moved with her parents to Atwood, Colorado … just outside of Sterling, a town that she would later call “home” only to leave and return many times over the course of her life. Arlene worked at the J&L Café in Sterling off and on, usually correlating with her returns to Sterling in need of a job, and Vern and Virgil were always quick to put her on the schedule. A young and pretty social butterfly with long and shapely legs, she was a favorite server at the J&L. In 1954, at the age of 18 years, she was a candidate for Rodeo Queen for the Logan County Fair. For the next twenty (20) years, Arlene chased love and acceptance. In that time, with two children already under her belt, in 1959 she met and married Donald Van Driel in Sterling. They had two daughters together and rode the job merry-go-round of a carpenter’s life that took them around the state of Colorado (Sterling, Littleton, Greeley and Galeton), South Dakota (Pierre) and Nebraska (Omaha). They divorced in 1973. Then, while back in Sterling and working at the J&L, she met the true love of her life, Gene Sullivan.

On April 7, 1974 she married Gene Sullivan in Sterling, Colorado. Their life together took them to Longmont, Colorado; Findlay, Ohio; Hillsboro, North Dakota and Sacred Heart, Minnesota. Around 2001 they downsized to a fifth-wheel RV and traveled around the country, spending a couple of winters in South Texas before feeling the need to settle again. They found a nice place in Grand Junction, Colorado they called home for a couple of years and finally, they ended up back in Atwood, Colorado until 2010 when Gene passed away suddenly after a short illness. They were married for 36 years. After Gene’s passing, she and their beloved Boston Terriers (Duchess and Susie) moved to St. Charles, Missouri and took up residence in an assisted living facility. Circumstances dictated one last move for Arlene when, in 2014 she moved to Kirkhaven Home in Rochester, New York.

Arlene was an amazing cook and her kitchen passions were baking and making candy. Not sure where the idea came from, but she was famous in Sacred Heart, MN for her “krautburger”, a mixture of ground beef and sauerkraut wrapped up and baked in a pocket of buttermilk bread. The crew at the local Werner plant would line up at lunch-time whenever she brought a batch of krautburgers to sell for lunch. She always managed to have bread dough left over that she, seemingly effortlessly, transformed into a pan of delicious Sticky Cinnamon Rolls. She loved to make candy for the holidays. Chocolate Fudge, Pecan Tassies, Buckeyes, Peppermint Bark and Glass Candy were her staples. The last few years that she was able to work in the kitchen, she started making peanut brittle, and you couldn’t buy better. She also enjoyed fishing, gardening, sewing and hanging out with family and friends over a beer or a cocktail.

Arlene is survived by her brothers Bill Dobson and Irwin Dobson; her children David (Karen) Sullivan, Bobbie (Gary) Goodridge, Linda Miles and Beverly (DuWayne) Gerving; her step-children Kendall (Dawn) Sullivan, Jeannine (Chuck) Lutters, Kim (Tom) Karlberg and Scott (Jana) Sullivan. She is also survived by 17 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.

Arlene is predeceased by her parents, brothers Devere and Marion Dobson and sister Vivian Engelker.

Viewing will be held at Stoddard Funeral Home on Monday, March 31st at 12pm, Services at 1pm and burial to follow at 2pm at Sunset Gardens Memorial Garden, Greeley, CO.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Logan County Heritage Center, 821 North Division Avenue, Sterling, CO 80751.