If you knew John, you heard his stories...so many stories! Now it’s our turn!
This page is a compilation of our favorite “John” stories, moments and memories from his family, friends and colleagues.
Here, we will create a history here of a life well lived...and well loved.
Thank you, John
- Submitted by Pat Hall
John and I worked together for seventeen years without a moment of anger or disagreement. It was easy to work alongside a partner who always placed the greater good and wellbeing of the office above his own interests. That was John. Make no mistake – John had a robust ego – but never did he place himself above the Town; the Bank; the Office; his Family; his Friends or his fellow Citizens. His was a life of service.
It is difficult to describe the loss we feel. What follows are some fragments of memory of my time with John.
Illegible script;
Unflappable in every circumstance;
So proud of his nieces and nephews – you guys brought true joy into John’s life and you could do no wrong in his eyes!
John loved Town Meeting. His diligent preparation for each meeting was a labor of love. At one point he was the longest serving Town Moderator in the Commonwealth. For me, the best part was the morning after Town Meeting, when John would saunter into to my office and recount the nights events. He was like a kid describing his own birthday party. I will admit, however, that sometimes the play by play ran longer than the meeting.
First in line at the Polling place on every election day;
Early morning mass and ashes on Ash Wednesday.
John was very generous – but frugal in some ways. On one occasion he hired a client/friend/contractor to build cabinets in his office. He was incredibly pleased with the prospects of getting a “great deal.” The cabinets were built, and the bill came to the office. We were able to intercept the bill and surreptitiously added a zero to amount owed. The look on John’s face when he opened the bill was as priceless as his delight at being pranked.
Seeing John and his mom at Lucia’s – they were true Winchester celebrities.
Tales of McCormack’s Drug Store (usually involving the Soda Fountain or the “basement”).
That half smile/slight smirk/eye twinkle which meant you were about to hear a tale of human foible, an ironic twist, or a delightful piece of “news.”
The Lexus car lease negotiations! John fancied himself as the king of all car lease negotiators. I was never convinced.
Whip and John’s constant trading of barbs and practical jokes. Always trying to one up the other. But always showing love and respect. Today’s Democrats and Republicans would do well to learn from their example.
Johns quick wit, his deep knowledge and love of Winchester and his efficiency as a moderator were on display annually when John served as master of ceremonies for the citizen of the year banquet.
As Chairman of the Board of the Cooperative Bank I believe that, given a choice, John would prefer mingling and having a donut in the bank lobby on Saturday mornings to presiding in the Board Room on Thursday evenings.
John is gone. But he has not left us. The Town; the Bank; the Office; his Family; his Friends and his fellow Citizens are all the richer; the better; the fairer - for all that he left with us.
Thank you, John.
Pat Hall
So many memories... Submitted by Nan Shanahan
Thinking about being in junior high school and John was running for selectman for the first time. I got all my friends to " March 4th with Sullivan" and we canvassed the town excited at being a part of the campaign..John lost by one Vote! and my elderly grandmother should have had an absentee ballot . John won by a landslide the next year and my town friends still remember how much fun we had with John.
I remember John deciding to go to law school at 54 years old. He was so excited about going back to school and loved every minute. He had great stories about the kids in his class. Imagine him showing up the first day in his Cadillac dressed in a suit jacket surrounded by a class of students with tee shirts and shorts. He loved them and they all were so fascinated with this older man who had great stories about business and politics.
John loved my kids and would take them shopping at the mall growing up. He loved the sports, the hockey with Kevin and football with Lisa cheerleading. He was so proud that Karen was such a mature and smart kid. Kevin didnt make the golf team as a freshman so John took him all over New England every school vacation and summer and they played golf everywhere. Kevin learned to be a pretty good golfer, made the high school team and headed the golf team at St Anselm's College. John game didn't get much better but the bonding and the stories were well worth it :)
I will always be grateful for John and how he cared for my Mother. He was so patient and kind and gave a piece of his life to be there for her. What a good son and brother he was.
Sweet Saturday
Submitted by Madeline Sullivan Emmons
It’s 3:00PM on a Saturday afternoon, Tommy, Nan and I are playing crazyball in the backyard when the McCormicks delivery van comes sliding up the driveway, John at the wheel honking loudly. We all run over to an outstretched arm holding a gallon bucket of Schraffts lollipops, the big ones! He says, “take two, take two, that’s enough!” Then he turns the van around in front of the garage and as he is leaving throws the rest of the lollipops in the backyard, beeping as he drives off. Later after he is done work and we have all been fed, he steps out on the back porch, jingling the keys to Big Madeline’s convertible and yells “ICE CREAM!” We all pile in along with a few Kintons from next door and we are off to Brighams. While we ponder seemingly endless flavors, Nan and I always order chocolate, John coaches from behind, downing 2 large vanilla cones and gathering napkins. Finally, checked for sticky hands we all pile back in. It’s a beautiful summer night with the top down and he takes the long way home around the lakes.
Another sweet summer Saturday with big brother John.
From Jan Foley, close family friend and former employee of John:
Working at Perland Environmental was always busy and one expecially busy day John was in a meeting with a number of employees and I was taking the notes. After the meeting, there was a question as to why something should be done in such a manner and John replied (rolling his eyes) “Because I’m the President”. When we walked out of the conference room, he smiled and said “What did you think of my answer?” I said “all well and good but you have two different shoes on Mr. President!” Lol. True story!
I have such fond (and funny) memories of John. It was such a privilege to meet and work for John and to become a member of the Sullivan family. The Byford Foley family loved John and we shall miss him.
Pizza Field Trip!
- submitted by Jeannie Barry
We were in high school, 1970, hanging around at Nan's house on Canterbury Rd one summer night. John came down cellar to say Hi and asked if we wanted to go for pizza. This was a TREAT. So the 4 giggly high school girls piled into John's car, not knowing where we were going as we drove down the Fells Parkway in Medford. We ended up at Santarpios in East Boston where John treated us to a late night snack. Looking back, John was always thoughtful and included everyone in on the fun.
A Man for Winchester
- Peter Haley, Former Town Moderator in a letter to Town Meeting members on 1/12/21
Dear Town Meeting Members:
News reaches us that John Sullivan has passed away.
John served as the Moderator of the Winchester Town Meeting for 37 years.
To describe his service to the Town, however, by reference to the offices he held or the terms he served is to both understate the degree of his commitment to Winchester and to miss the essential meaning and purpose of his service.
John was raised in Winchester and lived here for almost the entirety of his life.
From a very early age he began his pursuit of electoral politics, eventually ending up as Town Moderator.
At age 54, he stepped down from a prominent business position to return to law school and eventually take up residence in a law office with Pat Hall above Bruegger’s Bagels.
At that time, the town faced enormous challenges in aging infrastructure insufficient to constrain repeated flooding, school buildings that were quickly outliving their expected lives, a booming school population and an intractable electorate that repeatedly refused to support necessary tax overrides.
John, a few decades in, was at the height of his Moderator powers.
John’s control over town affairs was aided by a keen intelligence, a vast personal knowledge of the town and its inhabitants and an unmatched skill at getting things done locally.
All of those skills and attributes were used in furtherance of his primary core value and mission, a love of Winchester and its residents.
He did not moderate the Town Meeting, he governed the Town.
There were no meetings that he missed, events that he skipped, people that he did not take the time to get to know.
I began my own involvement in Town affairs with a visit to his office to introduce myself and inform him that I would be running for school committee.
He offered that he heard that I had been a great hockey player at the high school and had a big job at an important law firm in Boston.
I informed him that I was a not very good high school hockey player and that my job was not big, nor was my law firm important.
He looked up at me, looked down to write a note to himself, looked up, smiled and then said, “you do understand how politics works right?”
He went on to tell me all I could hope to know about politics in Winchester.
He attended my first meet the candidate event and after I spoke came up to tell me that he thought well of my chances.
I informed him, with a bit of over enthusiasm, how much I appreciated that.
Lets not get carried away he offered, you are running in a 3 person race for 2 seats on the local School Committee and the field includes a candidate who seems one traffic stop away from trouble.
Second place shouldn’t be too much of a reach for you after that education we gave you.
I was lucky enough to survive that race.
Best of all, I got to know John Sullivan and while I watched he guided the Town Meeting and the Town to a recognition of its fiscal reality, acceptance of the need for a tax override and the implementation of that override to build new schools, put in place a comprehensive flood mitigation program and support the education budget as the school population continued to grow.
He did so with humor, intelligence and, above all, kindness and concern for others.
His wit on the floor of the Town Meeting was unmatched and his appreciation for those who served the Town was without limit.
In his 60s he met a woman at the library, found love, flew to Bermuda, got married, came back and gave us all something else to believe in.
You could name every building in Town for him and it would understate his role and presence.
He got better as he went along.
He faced his struggles on his own and he shared his victories with everyone.
John Sullivan.
A man for Winchester.
God Bless You, Mr. Moderator.
Sunday Dinners.
While no one dinner stands out, it’s more of a lifetime of Sunday dinners with John that stand out. As kids, we went to John’s and my grandmother’s house on Canterbury Rd for dinner.. We watched football together and lots of America’s Funniest Videos. As we got older, dinner was at our house on Ivy Circle. Some dinners were more lively than others (what would you expect from a big Irish, Catholic family?) but the basics were the same: The seven of us, every Sunday.
As a family, we still value Sunday dinners. And while we can’t all be together every week, we know how sacred that time is. It’s a lifetime of Sunday dinners with John- and Nana- that we carry forward. It’s a gift and we know it.