Ann Therese Sullivan

“Ann was always a crusader,” said her sister, Marybeth, about Ann when she was in high school and college. “She was always for or against something. She had a lot of energy and attracted many friends with her vitality and love of life.

She was married for 58 years to John Francis Sullivan, who preceded her in death. When Ann and John were dating, the subject of children came up. She said she wanted twelve kids. The couple was blessed with eight. Two of the eight died before birth. In this large, active family there was little time to mourn those lost, but they were never forgotten. In January of 1973, when the youngest Sullivan child was eight and the oldest eighteen, the historic Roe v. Wade Supreme court decision was made and abortion on demand became the law of the land. A substitute teacher for the Detroit Public Schools, Ann had to do something to right the terrible wrong that had happened to unborn children. With some friends, she formed an organization called Birthright, now know n as the Northwest Metro chapter of Michigan Right to Life. They wrote legislators, rallied, prayed at abortion clinics, wrote voter guides, in short, did everything that is now done today to work for life for all people. In Colorado, she joined Citizens for Life, devoting Saturday mornings to prayer in front of the Planned Parenthood Clinic. Over the past twenty years she’s been President, Vice President, Secretary, Newsletter Coordinator, and Roses for Life coordinator. She’s organized booths for the fair and many other places. Over the years she has helped many new people find their voices in the movement, and has been a force for kindness and reconciliation between the members of the group, a very important quality when the cause you are working for goes on for forty years! She was a 2012 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bishop’s Respect Life office.

Ann is survived by four children, Bill, Tom, Theresa (Craig Ward) and Susie (Perry Rengo), six grandchildren, Bill, Sarah, Ann, Mary, Tim, Lisa, her brother Bill, and sister Marybeth. Two of Ann’s sons, Pat and Jim, preceded her in death.