Theresa "Terry" E. Sullivan

Theresa Eleanor (Demeo) Sullivan, a longtime Scituate, Mass. resident, died peacefully in her sleep on May 7, 2025, just shy of her 97th birthday. A native of Waltham, Mass., she was born to the late Louis and Anna Demeo.

A lifelong learner, avid traveler, and prolific volunteer, Terry never lost her sense of humor, curiosity, and ability to laugh, even as dementia took her memory and speech. In the six years she lived at Village at Proprietor’s Green in Marshfield, Mass., she kept asking questions and making the staff laugh.

A daily communicant at St. Mary of the Nativity Church in Scituate for decades, she served as a Eucharistic Minister, lector, CCD teacher, and marriage preparation leader.

Terry didn’t shy away from hard work: From her late 60s to early 80s, she cleaned bathrooms at La Salette Retreat Center in Attleboro, Mass. for teenagers attending retreats each summer. She also volunteered at the Pine Street Inn soup kitchen in Boston, brought Holy Communion to parishioners who were homebound, and drove elderly parishioners to daily Mass.

A passionate pro-life advocate, Terry traveled to Washington, D.C. every January to attend the March for Life. Through Friends of the Unborn Maternity Home, she babysat the children of single mothers and organized and delivered collections of diapers and clothing to give the mothers baby showers. And after Masses on Mother’s Day, she coordinated collections for the charity – enlisting her children and others to collect cash. Never afraid to speak her mind, she plastered her station wagon with pro-life bumper stickers.

Terry’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary led her to travel to countries where the faithful believe Mary has appeared to visionaries, including several trips to Medjugorje, a village in Bosnia and Herzegovina; and trips to Lourdes, France; Mexico City, Mexico; Fatima, Portugal; Knock, Ireland; and Finca Betania, Venezuela.

In her early 20s, she borrowed her father’s new Ford and drove across the U.S. with her cousins and older sister. Decades later, at 89, she rode along for another cross-country trip from California to Massachusetts with her daughter and eldest granddaughter, marveling at the Grand Canyon in Arizona and donning a pink cowboy hat at a rest stop in Texas. In between, her travels included trips to Alaska with her sister and cousin, Italy with her two daughters, all over the Northeast with her husband and family, and to Canada, Maine, and New Hampshire with her husband and several other couples.

A devoted mother, she cooked family meals every night, including homemade dessert – she had quite the sweet tooth. Terry quizzed her children on their spelling words, taught them the rules of writing, shot baskets in the driveway with them, played family games regularly, and drove her children to their lessons, sports, and activities.

A dedicated grandmother, she attended dozens of baptisms, First Communions, Confirmations, and graduations. She sent her grandchildren cards for Halloween, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and their birthdays. When they stayed at her house overnight, she left sticky notes on their pillows saying, “I love you.” As competitive as she was caring, Terry feigned ignorance of the rules to card games with her grandchildren, only to wipe the floor with them.

A lifelong learner, she took Italian, sewing, ceramics, stained class-making, candy making, and cooking classes. She sewed clothes for her daughters and herself, baked and decorated cakes to reflect her children’s interests, and made a ceramic Christmas tree.

In her 80s, she drove her granddaughter to the Quincy T station – they both got on the train to get to class: her granddaughter to an English course at Emerson College, Terry to an opera course at UMass Boston. She also studied art history there.

An avid gardener of more than 50 years, Terry regularly listened to radio programs about gardening. She planted annuals, perennials, and vegetables at the family home. The front and back yards burst with color from spring to fall, and salads and vegetable dishes came from her garden. She loved feeding and watching the birds. She devised creative obstacles to thwart squirrels from feasting at her feeders.

Physically fit her whole life, she walked daily and lifted weights, allowing her to take hikes with her grandchildren and play with her family in the ocean. Terry played on the basketball team at St. Charles High School, exercised watching fitness guru Jack LaLanne’s routines on television, and worked to remain fit and healthy into her 90s – even while in memory care, she pushed herself to participate in chair exercises and physical therapy.

Terry was predeceased by her husband of 43 years, Paul J. Sullivan, eldest daughter Anne C. Palmer, and infant son, Kevin Sullivan. She is survived by her children: John L. Sullivan (and Una Armstrong,) of Scituate, Mass.; Theresa Sullivan Barger (and Glenn Barger,) of Canton, Conn.; Mark Sullivan, of Craig, Colorado; Brian Sullivan (and Annie Kelly,) of Marshfield, Mass.; Bill Sullivan, of Scituate, Mass.; and her son-in-law Jeff Palmer, of Scituate, Mass.; 15 grandchildren, four step-grandchildren; two great-grandsons; a brother, Michael Demeo, of Newton, Mass., three sisters-in-law, and dozens of nieces and nephews.

A wake will be held at Richardson-Gaffey Funeral Home, 382 First Parish Road, Scituate, Mass. from 4 to 7 p.m. on May 14. A funeral Mass will be held at St. Mary of the Nativity Church, 1 Kent St., Scituate, Mass., at 11 a.m. on May 15. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Pine Street Inn in Boston or Friends of the Unborn in Quincy.