Shirley Ann Sullivan

Shirley Sullivan went peacefully to her eternal resting place the morning of Wednesday, Sept 30, 2026. Shirley was born on July 30, 1934, to Paul and Lela Wang of North Georgetown, Ohio. As a child she enjoyed fishing and arrowhead hunting with her dad, needlework with her mom, and numerous clubs and social activities. She was a tomboy and loved being outside playing ball with her brother and friends and even received a .22 caliber rifle as a graduation gift. Shirley attended Goshen High School graduating with the class of 1952 and was the first of her family to leave Ohio by enlisting in the US Air Force in October,1952.

While at Selfridge AFB in Michigan, Shirley met the love of her life, Bill, and in later years, she frequently stated `I chased him, until he caught me!’ Bill and Shirley were married on June 9, 1956, and lived in Milwaukee, WI where Shirley worked at Boston Store before starting a family. In 1966 the family moved to Greendale, Wisconsin as Bill’s family were original Greendalers. In Greendale Shirley was active in the St. Alphonsus Christian Women’s Association, Cub Scout Den Mother, Track and Softball coach, and volunteered at the school in various roles. Shirley, as an avid bowler, was very proud of her all-spare game, she enjoyed the neighborhood coffee clutch, bridge club, cake decorating, game playing, and discovered tennis, and many friends as a result.

In 1984, due to a job transfer they moved to Bradenton, Florida and resided in Palma Solo Village where Shirley lived for 40 years. In Bradenton, Shirley enjoyed walking/biking in the neighborhood, playing games like dominoes and Sequence, and hosting family and friends. She and Bill enjoyed traveling to see her children who lived in 3 different states, visited Hawaii, Alaska, and every state except four, and travelled to many international destinations including Mexico, and many countries in Europe. Shirley attended Bill’s various choir performances as his number one fan. As an original member of SS Peter Paul Catholic church Shirley volunteered in many service-related capacities such as communion administer, helping in the church store, and wrote the original church history for the CWA. She spent countless hours at the South Florida Museum and was the historian for the museum’s Service League, member of the Service League board, a docent and greeter. She loved to embellish stories about museum exhibits for the school children. Tennis was Shirley’s game and she played as much as possible until age 77 when she became a full-time caretaker for Bill until he passed in 2014. In 2024 Shirley moved to Gainesville, GA to be near family and spent her final years there.

Shirley was incredibly curious and was never shy at asking questions, especially about family history. She was the family genealogist and spent hundreds of hours researching census and other records to create the family history. She compiled binders of information, which she shared with her children and other relatives. In 1994, Shirley was afflicted with ovarian cancer and after surgeries and chemo treatments she was cancer free for her remaining years… a 30 plus year cancer survivor. Her doctor liked to refer to her as the miracle lady.

Her grandkids called her the energizer bunny as she was always active and, on the go. They loved swimming in her pool and exploring the museum to see Snooty the manatee. She was adventurous and had been known to race 3-year-olds, lead beanie baby parades, rollerblade, and jumped off the high-dive when she was 70 years old and even tried skiing when she over 60 years old.

Shirley was a kind, caring, loving, and faithful soul who never spoke ill of anyone or uttered a profane word in her life. The closest being an occasional `Dag Nabbit’ when she hit an errant tennis shot. She valued simplicity and was not a fan of technology (called iPhone `gizmo’s’). Her son liked to tell her, “You can take the girl out of North Georgetown, but you can’t take North Georgetown out the girl.”

Shirley is survived by her sister, Bev Frank, Alliance, OH and her children Jo (Ted) Miller of Grand Junction, CO; Dan (Heidi) Sullivan of Naperville, IL; and Maureen (Mark) Andrizzi of Gainesville, GA; and grandchildren Nick (Molly) Sullivan, JP (Stephanie) Sullivan, Keri Sullivan, Rachel (Nicholas) Goodwin, Daniel Sullivan, Natalie (Chad) Kupec; four great-grandchildren Hazel Goodwin, Grace Sullivan, Holden Goodwin, and William Joseph “Liam” Sullivan. She was also the beloved grandmother to stepsons Brenden (Christine) Andrizzi, Bradley (Megan) Andrizzi, and great grandmother to their 4 children.

She was preceded in death by her husband Bill, sister Marge Fetters, and brother, John Wang.

Shirley will be deeply mourned and lovingly remembered by all who knew her.

Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, October 9th at 12:00 pm at Ss Peter and Paul Catholic Church at 2850 75th Street W, Bradenton, FL.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Shirley’s memory may be made online to the The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature via link https://bishopscience.org/donate/ please comment – Shirley Sullivan Memorial Gift.