John was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts on October 16, 1925, the son of John B. Sullivan and Blanche Sutton. He would attend Springfield High School before the family moved to Brockton and he attended Brockton High. There Sully would excel at football, track, and swimming among others before graduating in 1943. Though his talents in both swimming and sprinting had John destined for the Olympics his duty to his country called. Sully would spend five years in the United States Navy, serving during World War II. It was also during one of his leaves from the Navy that he first met Rosemarie Romano. They met when he was 18 and she was 15 and they would go on to be married in 1945 and spend more than 73 years together.
Sully and Rose built a life in Brockton which included a close friendship with boxing icon Rocky Marciano. Sully would also open the first Sullivan’s Donut Shop on Warren Avenue, following in the footsteps of his father who had run a successful donut shop in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. The donut shop would be a success throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s leading to opportunities such as becoming a personal swimming coach for Cesar Romero, The Joker on television’s Batman during the 1960’s.
However Sully’s greatest success was that of being a father to his 5 children, John, Steve, Laurie, Kelly, and Amy. His dedication to his business was dwarfed by his dedication to his family. He would bring his family to Cape Cod in 1971, working at Sugar N’ Spice doughnut shop in South Yarmouth. In 1975 Sully would bring Sullivan’s Donuts to Bearse’s Way in Hyannis. For nearly 20 years it would be the hangout for musicians, police, hardworking locals, not to mention celebrities like Boston Bruins voice Fred Cusick. Sully’s blueberry muffins were favorites of Jackie Kennedy as well, who routinely had her chauffeur pick her up some. Whether serving fresh and hot donuts to the musicians who had finished up at the local nightspots into the early morning, or providing donuts and coffee to those unfortunate living on the streets, Sully gained a reputation as a kind soul and a man’s man. However this was a reputation he had sewn for decades before.
Sully would become well known throughout the Cape Cod music scene, lending his tremendous signing voice to iconic establishments like The Paddock, Mill Hill Club, and more. He would share the stage with Cape jazz luminaries like Dave McKenna, Lou Colombo, Dick Johnson, and others who would also become some of his closest friends.
Later in life Sully would be blessed with 9 grandchildren which became the new loves of his life: Christopher, Katie, Matthew, Lindsay, Ashley, Sarah, Keith, Kathleen, and David. Even after Sullivan’s Donuts closed Sully kept working hard well into his 80’s including time at C-Lab. He would become a great-grandfather six times over to Kaleigh, Emma, Liam, Landon, Lucas, and Sylvie.
From Fitchburg to Brockton to Hyannis and everywhere in between Sully treated everyone like family and loved his family like royalty.
‘Sully’ John Sullivan is survived by his wife of more than 73 years Rosemarie; his children John, Steve, Laurie, Kelly, and Amy, along with 9 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.]
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