I know Monica had a great bond with Imelda and continued with some breaks but they were kindred souls.

Life without you in it still feels empty; What joy you brought to us all! Forever Grateful!Hope you are doing well in the Land of Bliss! Hail to thee O Ancient One!
Love Moira

Hi Imelda!! This is me in front of my apt in Stockholm!

Yesterday  it was one year since you’ve been gone, and I dedicated my new radio show to you with some of your favorite music and realize how lucky we were to have you as a mother and the good fortune to have such an artistic person to guide us who cultivated all of the talents that we now are expressing-in our lives.  I realize it must’ve been fun for you to be with us too because in the pictures I see you with us  --You look very joyful, I know we-may not see each other again, but these memories will last for me as long as I live .  I wish you could come back.. I wish that I had had more time with you when I was able to. You taught me about the great mystery of life many times over. Hail to the Blithe spirit! Oh Ancient One.

COLUMBARIUM SAN FRANCISCO

CELEBRATION OF LIFE
SEPTEMBER 29, 2023, 1PM

IMELDA MARY MURPHY SULLIVAN
March 20, 1926 – August 11, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO’S NATIVE DAUGHTER
“HAIL TO THEE, BLITHE SPIRIT”
 
St Rose Academy, San Francisco HS
Lone Mountain San Francisco College for Women BA
University of California Riverside MA

Imelda loved modern poets such as E.E. Cummings, Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, and wrote poetry and taught creative writing. She loved travel and visited Copenhagen, Paris, London, Stockholm and Tel Aviv. What a fabulous life she lived. She almost made it to one century as a native daughter of San Francisco. Imelda had this beautiful smile and sense of humor when greeting relatives, newcomers and friends, which lives in all of us, a warm inner glow that reflected a wondrous and jubilant Imelda.

Our mother Imelda died on Friday August 11, two weeks after our older sister and her first born, Monica, left us on July 21. It is hard to know what life will be like without both of them. Imelda represents the glory of San Francisco and was versatile in art, cinema, education journalism, creative writing, poetry, and music. Monica was a powerhouse in radio journalism in theatre and film. Imelda made sure her children Monica, Moira, Alanna and Jerome, and grandchildren Stephanie, Emma and Tess, had an artistic upbringing in piano, voice, writing, music or art. Each reflected parts of her love of the arts and were the key to her longevity and now immortality. She attended St Rose Academy and perfected exquisite and ornate penmanship, a lost art for today’s youth, as evidenced in this photo of a smiling Imelda at age 1, dedicated to Aunt Celia, her father’s sister from Stockbridge MA where he was born. Afterwards, she received a Bachelor of Arts at Lone Mountain - San Francisco College for Women from 1944-1947. She spent most of the time at the library, writing or reading. It was the first college in San Francisco for women, built in 1933. As a young woman, Imelda worked downtown in some of the iconic department stores like I. Magnin, and was an usher at the War Memorial Opera House. She also served as a volunteer at the San Francisco canteen for the U.S.O. United Service Organizations. Imelda had a Masters of Art in education from University of California Riverside. She was a community college professor for many years at San Francisco and Riverside City College, and a special education tutor  in private and public schools  After she retired, she served as a volunteer at the Museum of Modern Art in the collections of major artists such as Jackson Pollack and Georgia O’Keefe. At the Lighthouse for the Blind she volunteered to read books for the visually challenged, such as the history of San Francisco.

Thanks to Elliot Franks and Crystal Hoffman at the San Francisco Columbarium. Imelda chose to come to rest here 20 years ago and spend eternity in a community of artists, magicians, sculptors, and politicians from San Francisco as her neighbors and friends, with keepsakes from her children.

Thanks to Jay, Charlotte, Stephanie Sullivan and Max; Alanna, Stella, Emma, Tess, John Greenham; Eric Ismay; Curtis, Heidi Huber and Jake; Steve Rubenstein; Dianne and Mark Bonino, Cathy McAvoy Leong, Tim and Terry Donnelly; Eric and Kristen Aijala; Karen Zerrudo; Laura Blosky; Karen Gee; +Tom Donnelly; +Imelda Sullivan; +Monica Sullivan.
m.j.s.

"When Floralie was little she had a baby doll that Mama named Lilac. Floralie took Lilac everywhere and every once in a while she would stand up on the floor and say, “Look! Look at her taking her first steps!”  Firsts. Mothers get to see firsts. First word, first steps, first haircut, first recital, first day of school, first love, first good-bye. First time one holds a pencil. First time one opens a box of paints. First times one sits to create. Mothers see firsts. Mothers see firsts". page 199. 
(This passage was read to Imelda on August 11, 2023 from The Flourishing of Floralie Laurel, Fiadnait Moser, New York, 2018. Imelda wrote to the author to tell her how much she enjoyed the magical realism of her second novel The Serendipity of Flightless Things (2019) and the colorful characters that came alive for her. This was a real joy to read together the summer before she died. 

Thanks to Fiadnait from Imelda and Moira

NOTES TO PROGRAM FOR IMELDA MARY SULLIVAN
i Imelda introduced her family to this Catholic from the Belgian Congo, 
 ii Imelda, Moira, and Curtis Huber attended Midnight Mass 1976 at Notre-Dame de Paris where the titular organist from 1954-1984, Pierre Cochereau, introduced the mass with this wondrous organ rendition of Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor on the Cathedral’s 8,000 pipe organ with five keyboards. Imelda was jubilant and often spoke of this evening.  The organ was damaged at the fire of 2019. Moira, Thomas, and Imelda Sullivan are donors to the restoration of the Notre-Dame to be completed in 2024. 
iii Imelda was a disco queen! She loved Donna Summer, Diana Ross, and the Bee Gee’s.  She danced in discos in Hollywood, Paris, London, and San Francisco with Eric and Moira and Tel Aviv with Monica. 
iv Imelda introduced us to the 14 operettas and musical theatre by composer Arthur Sullivan and the librettist W.S. Gilbert from the late 19th century. We borrowed LPs from the library and sang from the librettos together
 v As a college student, Imelda studied music and acted and sang in plays put on by the college. Our home was filled with the sounds of opera and classical music and Leontyne Price and Beethoven’s 9th were her favorites. She wanted Beethovens 9th at her final ceremony!
vi Imelda loved soundtracks to film.

Ceremony for Imelda Mary Murphy Sullivan
Columbarium San Francisco September 29, 2023
Host: Moira Jean Sullivan
Overture  
1.	Missa Luba:  Sanctus Les Troubadours Du Roi Baudouin Él, London,1958.i 
Speaker: Moira Sullivan 
2.	J.S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 - 1. Toccata 2. Fugue 
Pierre Cochereau. The Art of Pierre Cochereau, 1973 ii 
Speaker: Jay Sullivan and Stephanie Sullivan
Slide Show of Imelda Mary Murphy Sullivan 
 3.	Gabriel’s Oboe Ennio Morricone, André Rieu, (original soundtrack to The Mission). 
 Speaker: Eric Ismay  
 4.	Donna Summer Last Dance iii 
5.	Gilbert & Sullivan, D'Oyly Carte Opera, The Mikado:  Comes a Train of Little Ladies iv 
6.	Leontyne Price Turandot: Act III: Tu che di gel sei cinta-- Giacomo Puccin iv 
7.	Blade Runner (original soundtrack) Rachel's Song, Vangelis. vi 
8.	Alanna Greenham Beethoven, Symphony No 9, 4th movement.

This was taken in New York and was one of Imelda’s favorites. It represents her daringness, boldness, sense of adventure and advanced state of being. It is with her where she chose to rest.  
Hail to thee, O ancient one! 
Your words were pragmatic, insightful, poetic, fierce and captivating. There are few genuine spirits out there like you and I will miss you to the end of my days. 
Gæ as long as I am alive so are you.  
Your memory will live on in San Francisco for centuries to come.
Your daughter Moira, the second one.

Everyone fit in the living room in the Outer Richmond with family and friends on both sides. So many in this picture are no longer with us but their memory lives on. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall at this party! Mary Broderick, Robert, Monica, Jackie, John L Murphy and Monica Murphy. Florence and Tom Sullivan Sr, and Pat Sullivan. Jeanette Bastiani, Bob McFadden and Bob Popp, (Best Man)  & former Mayor of Stinson Beach.

Imelda was always a sharp dresser and took time to look her best. Note the detail in her hat, coat and dress, and Monica's little coat, purse and shoes.

OBITUARY

Imelda Murphy Sullivan

March 20, 1926 – August 11, 2023

San Francisco Columbarium & Funeral Home

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