Ann Sullivan Kay

Ann Sullivan Kay, (nee Schroeder), 88, died on December 17, 2020 in Bloomfield Hills surrounded by her family.  A resident of Grosse Pointe for more than 60 years, Ann was the daughter of Frederick J. Schroeder and Evelyn (nee Cahalan). As a child she attended the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grosse Pointe Farms. Following graduation, Ann attended Manhattanville College in New York, and the University of Detroit where she earned degrees in English and Mathematics. After college, Ann joined Michigan Bell as a statistician.

Ann loved spending her summers at the Detroit Boat Club, which is where she first took an interest in sailing.  It was during these summers on the water when she met the love of her life, Chuck Sullivan, who was her sailing instructor. Ann and Chuck quickly became inseparable. They married in 1955 and moved to Grosse Pointe Farms where they raised four children. Ann and Chuck were very involved in their church community at St. Ambrose Parish, where Ann was a Eucharistic minister and Chuck was a Lector. Ann and Chuck worked together at Crossroads, a social service outreach agency, and Ann also worked at the Women in Transition shelter to assist those who were victims of domestic abuse. Ann was an avid fan of the Detroit Tigers and Thoroughbred Horseracing, and she had an uncanny ability to select the winning horse. Ann continued her love of sailing as an officer of the Grosse Pointe Farms Boat Club.

Ann’s husband Chuck had an untimely death in 1987 at age 61. Some years later, Ann was reunited with a longtime family friend, John Howard Kay (Howard), who had also lost his spouse. Ann and Howard both found love again and eventually married in March 1998. Together, Ann and Howard enjoyed sailing, and spending time with their children and grandchildren until Howard passed away in September 2001. 

Ann is survived by her children Charles C. Sullivan, III (Andrea) of Carmel, IN, Mimi Sullivan Phillips (Tony) of Saint Clair Shores, MI, Brian Frederick Sullivan (Marylynn) of Acworth, GA and Kevin Girard Sullivan (Eileen) of Columbia, MD. Ann was very close to and extremely proud of her grandchildren including Kate Sullivan (Sebastian), Charles C. Sullivan IV (Jessica), Robert W. Martin-Sullivan (Michelle), Jack Sullivan, Maggie Sullivan, and Elizabeth Sullivan. 

Ann is also survived by two great-grandchildren, Jacqueline Mae Martin-Sullivan, and Olivia Sullivan; countless cousins, nieces, and nephews; and by her stepchildren including Julie Elizabeth Calkins (Thomas), Mary Clare Kelmenson (Lawrence), John Howard Kay, Jr. (Maurya), Peter Stuart Kay, Margaret Lynn Dyer (Christopher), and Alison Lee Pacifici (Mario).

Ann was predeceased by both of her husbands, John Howard Kay, Sr. and Charles C. Sullivan, Jr., brothers Frederick J. Schroeder, Jr. (Janet Bachrach) and John C. Schroeder (Claire Lewis), and her brother-in-law Daniel W. Sullivan (Mary Morse).

A Catholic funeral mass will be held in 2021. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the St. Ambrose Conference of St. Vincent de Paul https://eps.mvpbanking.com/cgi-bin/simplysaid/login.pl?access=60058&preview" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://eps.mvpbanking.com/cgi-bin/simplysaid/login.pl?access=60058&preview">https://eps.mvpbanking.com/cgi-bin/simplysaid/login.pl?access=60058&preview .