OBITUARY NOTICE:
Father Emmanuel Sullivan, SA Franciscan Friar of the Atonement
(November 5, 1927 – December 19, 2017)
(December 21, 2017—Graymoor, Garrison, NY) Father Emmanuel Sullivan, SA (nee Stephen), a Franciscan Friar of the Atonement, entered into eternal life on Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
Fr. Sullivan was born in Malone, NY. He was raised and attended schools in Brushton, NY where he graduated from St. John’s High School in 1948. He received a Master’s Degree from Catholic University in 1955 and a Ph.D in 1965, also from Catholic University. In September of 1943, Fr. Sullivan entered the Community of the Friars of the Atonement. He received his habit in 1948 and professed First Vows in 1949. He made his Final Vows in September of 1952. He was ordained to the priesthood in May, 1955 by Bishop Edward Dargin.
From 1955 to 1959, Fr. Sullivan was a Professor of Philosophy at St. Joseph Friary in Saranac Lake, NY. He was appointed Assistant Pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Steveston, British Columbia from 1959 – 1961. He taught Philosophy at St. Pius X Seminary at Graymoor for one year in 1961. From 1962 – 1964, Fr. Sullivan attended Catholic University as a full-time Doctoral student. He returned to Graymoor as a Professor at St. Pius X Seminary from 1964 – 1967. He served in Pastoral Ministry at the Chapel of Our Savior in Brockton, MA in 1967. Fr. Sullivan was appointed Ecumenical Director at St. Francis Friary in London from 1968 – 1974. From 1974 – 1977, he was a part of the Ecumenical Community at Hengrave Hall, Suffolk. From 1977 – 1978, he was a Visiting Scholar at St. Edmunds House of Studies at Cambridge. From 1979 – 1983, he was a parish priest and Ecumenical Officer in East Anglia. In 1983, Fr. Sullivan returned to New York to assume the role of Director of the Graymoor Ecumenical Institute, a position he held until 1989. He returned to England in 1989 to serve as Director of the Christian Education Center in Crawley for one year. Following a period of sabbatical leave, Fr. Sullivan returned to ministry as the Ecumenical Officer for the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton in Surrey from 1991 – 1998, while also serving as Priest-in-Residence at St. Joseph’s Parish in Dorking, Surrey. Fr. Sullivan retired from active ministry in 1999 and took up residence at St. Paul Friary at Graymoor. He served on the Community Ecumenical Committee from 2002-2007. Fr. Sullivan received the Franciscan Peacemaker Award in 2007.
Fr. Sullivan was the son of the late Francis Sullivan of Brushton, NY and Margaret Taylor Sullivan of Armoy, County Antrim, Ireland. He was predeceased by his brother, Charles, and sisters Evelyn Maloney and Kathleen Walsh. Fr. Sullivan died at his place of residence, Holy Name Community nursing home in Ringwood, NJ.
A wake service is planned at Graymoor on Tuesday, December 26 at 7 p.m., and a Funeral Mass will be held on Wednesday, December 27, 2017 at 10 a.m. Both services will take place at the St. Paul Friary Chapel at Graymoor. Interment in the Friars’ cemetery will immediately follow the funeral.