January 2, 2021
The funeral Mass of Paulist Fr. Jeremiah Sullivan was held Saturday, January 9 at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in New York City.
With deep sadness, we announce that our brother, Paulist Fr. Jeremiah Dennis “Jerry” Sullivan, entered eternal life on Thursday night, December 31, 2020.
Fr. Jerry, 87, died at Parker Jewish Rehabilitation Center in Queens, NY. He had been in declining health in recent months. There is no indication his death was related to COVID-19.
He had been a part of our missionary society for 68 years. He had been a priest for 61 years.
He was born on January 23, 1933, in Woodside, NY, a son of Eugene Sullivan and Julia Shea Sullivan.
He entered our novitiate in 1952; made his first promise on September 8, 1953; made his final promise on September 8, 1956; and was ordained a deacon in 1958.
He was ordained a priest on May 1, 1959, by Cardinal Francis Spellman.
Fr. Jerry earned his undergraduate degree at St. Paul’s College, our seminary in Washington, D.C., which was then a degree-granting institution. He later earned a master’s degree from Iona College in pastoral counseling.
After his ordination, Fr. Jerry served his pastoral year at the Paulist Center in Boston. He also was based there from 1965 to 1967 while he served on our mission band.
From September, 1960, to 1962, he served as an assistant pastor at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Mobile, AL.
He also served two stints (1962 to 1965 and 1967 to 1970) as an associate pastor at Good Shepherd Church in Inwood in New York City.
From 1970 to 1974, he served in the Newman Apostolate at the University of California at Santa Barbara (St. Mark’s University Parish).
In 1974, Fr. Jerry became pastor of the Newman Apostolate at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT, serving there through 1982.
From 1983 to 1986, he was associate pastor of St. Cyril of Alexandria Church in Tucson, AZ.
He then moved to North Carolina, serving as pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Greensboro from 1986 to 1991 and as a chaplain at St. Vincent de Paul Medical Center in Charlotte from 1991 to 1992.
He continued as a chaplain at Griffin Hospital in Derby, CT, from 1992 to 1994, and as a chaplain at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles from 1994 to 2011.
In 2011, he entered senior ministry at our Motherhouse in New York City, adjacent to Church of Saint Paul The Apostle, NYC. He lived there until 2018 when he entered nursing home care on Long Island.
In addition to his Paulist brothers, Fr. Jerry is survived by his niece, Mary Breen Corrigan; his nephew, John Sullivan; his nephews, Joseph, John, Patrick and Jeremiah Breen; and 16 great nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his brother, John, and his sister, Jean Breen.
Fr. Jerry’s wake and Funeral Mass will be held Saturday, January 9, at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in New York City. The wake will begin at 10 a.m. with the Funeral Mass at 11 a.m. His burial will follow the Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle Cemetery in Oak Ridge, NJ.
If the case of a snowstorm in New York City and northern New Jersey on Saturday, the wake, Funeral Mass and burial may take place on Monday.
Our prayer for our brother, Jerry:
May the angels lead you into paradise,
may the martyrs come to welcome you,
and take you to the holy city,
the new and eternal Jerusalem.
May 1, 1959: Cardinal Francis Spellman presents the chalice to Paulist Fr. Jerry Sullivan during his Ordination Mass.
Fr. Jerry in 1966
An undated photo of Fr. Jerry
Fr. Jerry depicted by Paulist Fr. Frank Sabatté
Fr. Jerry celebrating his 85th birthday in January 2018
at the Paulist Fathers motherhouse in New York City
Fr. Jerry around Christmas, 2018, in a photo taken by Paulist Fr. Eric Andrews