Thomas and Margaret Sullivan

Thomas and Margaret Sullivan
Thomas and Margaret Sullivan, November 17, 1934

About Thomas Sullivan and Margaret Carmody

About Thomas A. Sullivan and Margaret M. Carmody

Thomas Aloysius Sullivan, the oldest child of Alexander Sullivan (1880-1956) and Ellen Madigan (1880-1966) was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 7, 1908. Less than two years later, on February 12, 1910, Margaret Mary Carmody, daughter of Patrick Joseph Carmody (c1878-1949) and Laura Agatha Agnes Desmond (1882-1964) was born. They both grew up on the west side of Chicago and married on Christmas Eve, 1929 at St. Mel Church. Their only son, Thomas Desmond Sullivan, was born in Chicago in 1930. Besides living in Illinois, Tom and Margaret also lived in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Margaret died on May 27, 1982. Tom remarried, eventually moving to Venice, Florida where he died on July 11, 1996. For information related to Thomas A. Sullivan prior to marriage go to the Sullivan/Madigan Genealogy Blog.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Letter from Tom to Helen, 1995




Helen and her brother Tom wrote letters and cards to each other more often than they called each other on the phone. Before cell phones and long-distance telephone "packages" everyone thought calling long distance was only for emergencies OR the rich!

Tom Sullivan came up to Chicago for Larry McIntyre's funeral service on Saturday, March 4, 1995. He must have written this letter to Helen immediately upon returning to Venice, Florida. I'm sure he was trying to make her feel like she still had a full life ahead of her, noting how he started the letter -- "AT 81 LIFE'S JUST BEGUN"

The letter represents Tom's positive outlook on life and how seriously he took his responsibility to make a difference.  If you double click on the letter image it will enlarge so you will be able to read the content.