Timothy P. Sullivan
Timothy Patrick Sullivan of East Hampton died at home on Dec. 8 of lung cancer that was diagnosed in September. He was 84.
Mr. Sullivan became acquainted with East Hampton as a child when he visited friends here, and he and his wife bought a house in the village in 1971. Once he had retired, he moved here full time and became active in a number of groups, including the East Hampton Rotary Club, the East Hampton Town nature preserve committee, and Ducks Unlimited, a national nonprofit dedicated to preserving disappearing waterfowl habitat. He also joined a production class at LTV Studios and eventually hosted his own show, “Sullivan’s Travels Around the East End” on the public access channel. His son said that many people remember his show fondly, especially the “Poetry Corner” segments for which he invited East End poets as guests.
In New York City, his son said, Mr. Sullivan had had a lifelong involvement with the Democratic Party, but once he was living here, he switched allegiance to the Republican Party, partly because he felt that New York Democrats who were out here looked down on the Bonackers and he did not like that, according to his wife. He became an East Hampton Town Republican committeeman and over the years wrote dozens if not hundreds of impassioned letters to The Star about all sorts of town matters.
He was born in New York City on Aug. 25, 1934, the only son of the former Grace Darby and Joseph Timothy Patrick Sullivan. He had two sisters who were his father’s daughters from a previous marriage, Sally Sullivan of Los Angeles and Maureen Sullivan of Philadelphia, both of whom died before him.
Mr. Sullivan went to the Allen-Stevenson School, Canterbury School, and attended the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. At first he worked as a copy boy at The Washington Post and as a reporter at The Newark Star-Ledger.
After his journalistic stint, Mr. Sullivan spent time on Wall Street, first as a bond trader and then at Cowen and Company, after which he went to work for the New York City Bureau of the Budget during the 1970s fiscal crisis. In 1977 he became deputy county clerk of New York County. He retired in 1996.
He was an enthusiastic sailor and fisherman and loved spending time on the water, according to his family. He was passionate about music, art, and poetry and organized a poetry reading at the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center in honor of what would have been Jackson Pollock’s 100th Birthday.
Mr. Sullivan was a lifelong member of the Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, where he had previously served as secretary and historian. He served as an honorary usher at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and was head usher for a time.
Through mutual friends, Mr. Sullivan met Wiebke Elizabeth Luth, who survives, in New York City and they married in 1966. They would have celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary on Friday, Dec. 28. Two children, Grace Sullivan and Sean Sullivan, both of Manhattan, and two granddaughters survive.
Mr. Sullivan was cremated. In the summer, his ashes will be scatted on Gardiner’s Bay. A funeral service will be held at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton on Dec. 29 at 11 a.m. The Rev. Ryan Creamer will say the Mass. Donations in Mr. Sullivan’s name have been suggested for East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978.