James T. Sullivan

James Sullivan of Paoli PA died at home after a long illness.

Visitation at 10:30 am and Funeral Mass at 11 am on August 30 at St. Norbert Catholic Community, 50 Leopard Rd, Paoli, PA. Interment to follow at Calvary Cemetery Matson & Gulph Rds, Conshohocken, PA. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to ALZ.org or to PlannedParenthood.org. As the father of a well-spaced five children, Jim was a regular contributor to Planned Parenthood, believing in the importance of family planning. Jim was predeceased by his wife of nearly 60 years, Rosemary Mank; his brothers William, Daniel, and John; and one of the dearest people in his life, Delores Colihan. He is survived by his children, Judith Martin, Dr. Patricia, James Jr., Deborah, and Michael; six grandchildren; two great grandchildren; and his dear friend Evelyn Casalena. Jim was born in Effingham, IL, to William Sullivan and Norma Underriner. He attended the University of Illinois on a full scholarship won in a competition for students from Effingham County. As winner, he had his choice of three available scholarships--engineering, medicine, and law. He chose engineering because he’d be out of school fastest and able to support a family soonest. While looking for a place to live his freshman year, he knocked on the door of a family that took in boarders. The younger daughter of the house (14 at the time) took one look through the screen and said to herself, “I’m going to marry that one.” Jim graduated with a BS in Civil Engineering in 1944 (after enlisting in the the US Army in July 1943). He completed the Engineer Officer Candidate Course in the US Army in March 1944. On D-Day, Lieutenant Sullivan married that girl at the front door, Rosemary Mank, in Alexandria, LA. Because it was not a Catholic ceremony, they celebrated their anniversary on August 3 (the date of their marriage in the Catholic church) until Jim’s mother’s death in 1974. Days before Jim was scheduled to ship out with a unit of SeaBees to the Pacific, during an assignment as a forestry engineer in a western US post, he was searching for a cedar tree to cut down to make a cedar chest for Rosemary. On his search an embankment upon which he was standing collapsed and he fell 60 feet injuring his back and knee, preventing him from being shipped overseas. Upon leaving the army at the rank of 1st Lieutenant, Jim was hired by the New York Central Railroad as an assistant engineer in Indianapolis, IN. Moving up through the hierarchy meant moving frequently for his growing family. His dream job was Chief Engineer. Jim was a great story teller and had a roguish sense of humor. In November 1972 he came in to the house a number of days whistling “Hail to the Chief.” He was disappointed that none of his family caught on and he eventually had to tell them that he had been appointed Chief Engineer of the Penn Central Railroad. In April 1976 Jim was named Chief Engineer—Design and Construction of the newly formed Conrail. During his 12 years in that role Jim oversaw the full engineering resources of Contrail in the design and construction of capital projects. Jim considered his proudest accomplishment to be the engineers he trained over his years in the U.S. Army and with the railroad. Following his retirement from Conrail in 1988, Jim continued to work. He was a licensed professional engineer in 11 states and the District of Columbia. In the late 1980s he consulted on the Peacekeeper Rail Garrison, a Department of Defense project to make Peacekeeper missiles rail based, allowing for them to be mobilized and protecting them from a first strike by the Soviet Union. In the early 1990s he served as a consulting engineer on construction of the Channel Tunnel (Chunnel). An avid golfer, Jim kept careful track of each of the thousands of miles he walked during play. He said the most beautiful course he ever played was Pebble Beach but that Pine Valley was his favorite because it "was the best test of golf.” Jim was delighted in his late 70s and 80s to be able to shoot his age on a number of occasions (he’d want you to know he was playing from the standard men’s tees). For many years Jim bowled for the Berwyn Methodist team in the Main Line Church Bowling League at Devon Lanes. In 1975 he won the Philadelphia Junior Bowling Association Parent-Child Tournament with his son Michael. They scored a combined total of 1213 representing Devon Lanes. Jim also was an accomplished bridge player and enjoyed playing poker.