Amherst, William (Bill) Sullivan of Anaheim, CA, previously of North Miami, FL, died December 7, 2016 at the age of 92.  The son of John F. and Agnes Sullivan he was born May 5, 1924, in Holyoke, MA, and during his lifetime lived in Massachusetts, New York, Colorado, France, Florida, and California.

Bill was preceded in death by his, brother John Preston Sullivan, and sisters Frances Fiorillo, Marjorie Case and Rose Stephens.  He is survived by his brothers James Richard Sullivan and Daniel Joseph Sullivan, and sister Grace Ostheimer; his brothers-in-law Art Ostheimer and Richard Case, sisters-in-law Gloria Sullivan, Muriel Sullivan, and Maria Sullivan and; and 24 nieces and nephews.

Bill graduated from Amherst High School, Amherst, MA, Circa 1942 and planned continue his education at MIT in pursuit of a degree in Aeronautical Engineering.
However instead of going on to college he enlisted in the Army and began his working career as a Combat Infantry Rifleman in World War II.

He signed up for the Army in May of 1943 and began active service June 11, 1943.  Following Basic Training he was sent to Alabama Polytech Institute for a 6 month course in Engineering.  In October of 1944 he was assigned to the 84^th Infantry Division as a Combat Infantry Rifleman and shipped out to the European Theater of Operations.  The 84^th landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy in early November 1944, five months after D-Day (June 6, 1944). From France, the unit moved quickly into the Netherlands in preparation for an offensive into Nazi Germany. During the Battle of the Bulge, the 84th was diverted to Belgium to stop the German offensive.
Bill was awarded a Purple Heart for wounds received in the Battle of the Bulge on January 5, 1945.  In March 1945, the 84^th moved into the Rhineland and subsequently advanced northward, capturing the city of Hannover on April 10.
Bill shipped back to the U.S. in January of 1946 and separated from the Army on January 30, 1946. 

Following the War, Bill traveled to Ireland to meet his Irish cousins, the O’Connell’s, who had inherited his grandfather’s farm in County Kerry?  He also visited with cousins in Killarney and Dublin.  Many years later he returned to Ireland with his mother, Agnes, so that she could also meet her Irish kinfolk.

At the time that Bill signed up for the Army he had been planning to study Aeronautical Engineering.  When he got home from the war he had a change of heart and applied to study at The Holy Cross Passionist Seminary on Lake Erie in Dunkirk, NY with a plan to devote his life to Christ and the Holy Family.  Following Seminary Bill spent several years as a Trappist Monk at St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, MA, St. Benedict’s Monastery in the town of Snowmass, CO, and at another Trappist monastery in France.  

Returning stateside from France he entered a course of study at Fordham University in NYC .  Upon his completion of studies at Fordham in the mid 1960’s he moved to Miami, FL to be close to his mother who was then living in Miami Springs.  He was employed by the Dade County Records Department and worked there until his retirement in 1989.

Over the years Bill faithfully attended most if not all of the Sullivan family reunions starting off in 1958 in Miami and continuing every 3 or 4 years until our last reunion at Lake Tahoe in June of 2010.  Bill especially loved to spend time in conversation with the children. 

In 2002 Bill was living alone in Florida and had no family close by.  His brother Jim and wife Muriel invited him to move to California to live with them.  After living under Jim and Muriel’s care for two years Bill took advantage of an opportunity to move into a Residence for Seniors.  For the past several years leading up to his death Bill resided at the Anaheim Crown Plaza where he had a private suite of his own and received 3 meals a day in the dining room.  In his final months he was lovingly cared for by Doctor’s Choice Hospice of Woodland Hills, CA.

Funeral Services will be Wednesday, June 7, 2017, with at Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 a.m. at St. Brigid’s Catholic Church, 122 N Pleasant St, Amherst, MA.  Burial with military honors will follow at St. Brigid’s Cemetery, corner of N. Maple and Rocky Hill Rd., Hadley, MA, where his father, mother, grandmother, and sister Frances Fiorillo are interred.

In place of flowers, please send donations to Doctor’s Choice Hospice, 23133 Ventura Blvd. Suite 102, Woodland Hills, CA 91364.