August 4th is the anniversary of the birth of Mary Claire Rita Wiley Sullivan: daughter of Boom Boom and Boompa; sister of Helen; wife of Big Sully; mother of Seamus the Older, Mary Fran, John, Mike, Matt, Anne, Jerry, Margaret and Patty; grandmother of 24; great-grandmother of 21; aunt of Whalens and the Arizona Sullivans; and friend to all. She died in Orange, CA on May 6, 2011.
She was a beautiful woman with many talents, among them gardening, playing piano, cooking, decorating, grammar/diction, playing bridge, humor and Irish dancing. Jim recalls her dancing the "Stack of Barley" with old Mr. Barry (probably a cousin of our great-great-grandmother, Mary Barry) down at Cannon's on the corner of 50th and Halsted, when he was about 6.
Mary Claire Wiley was in pre-med at Marquette in 1946 when she took organic chemistry with a future steel-mill metallurgist named James Patrick Sullivan, just home from WWII. He caught a feral cat--a required item for her anatomy class (the skull was rattling around our house until the early 2000s)--and chased away all other suitors. They married the next year and she called off med school, having nine babies over the next 18 years.
She taught us things that are hard to quantify--that people are the most important ingredient of life; that fat carries flavor; to watch out for the poor and down-trodden; to make friends with the unpopular kid; and above all, believe in the power of love.
She is gone from us now, although the legacy of love that she imparted travels on. Happy Birthday, Mary Claire Sullivan, Mom, Granny.
Love, Patty
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