Obituary of Elizabeth Jane Sullivan
Elizabeth “Betty” Jane Sullivan, 95, whose determination and quick wit defined and guided her large extended family for a lifetime, died Sunday, Aug. 29, at her Joliet home.
Mrs. Sullivan, a Joliet Township High School Class of 1943 graduate, decided early that all six of her children would go to college and with her late husband, William L. Sullivan, they accomplished that goal. She was a lifelong reader and avid student of the news and could not understand why others did not take an interest in civic affairs. She was a member of the Cathedral of St. Raymond Catholic Church for more than 85 years and faithfully raised her children according to those principles.
She entertained her 11 grandchildren with Midwestern aphorisms to suit every occasion and regaled them with stories of her 20 first cousins spend their childhood summers at the family “shack” along the Kankakee River.
Born in Plainfield to Willard G. and Anna Louise Bannon Reed, she moved to Joliet as a toddler and lived here the rest of her life. She was an active member of the Lambda Nu chapter of the Phi Tau Omega sorority, the Joliet Park District Ladies’ Golf League and belonged to several bridge groups.
After high school, she worked at the electric power utility then called Public Service, resigning after she married in 1951. She later rejoined the paid workforce as a secretary for a local attorney, the Family Medical Group, the corporation counsel’s office at Joliet City Hall and finally Argonne National Laboratory, retiring as an executive secretary in 1987.
In retirement, she and her husband enjoyed golfing and traveling to visit their far-flung children. Her husband died Sept. 7, 2000. Her beloved sister, Marian Reed Cresto, died July 28, 2004.
Survivors include Terrence (Diane) Sullivan of Eagan, Minn.; Maureen Sullivan of Aurora; Patricia Sullivan, formerly of Washington D.C.; Kathleen Sullivan Swanson of Reston, Va.; Jeanne (Bob) Casey of Chicago; and William L. Sullivan (Mary Pat) of Oak Park. She has 11 grandchildren: Michele Larson, Christina Sullivan, Jennifer Washington, Carrie Olson, Colleen Swanson, Robert Swanson, Robert Casey, Molly Casey Kyhos, Patrick Casey, Brigid Sullivan and Megan Sullivan and two great-granddaughters, Nora Larson and Zoey Elizabeth Olson.
Visitation for Betty will be Thursday, September 2, 2021 at the Fred C. Dames Funeral Home, 3200 Black Rd. (at Essington Rd.), Joliet from 9 – 11 a.m. The funeral will continue to the Cathedral of St. Raymond, 604 Raynor Ave., Joliet where a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:30 a.m. Interment will follow at Resurrection Cemetery in Romeoville. Memorials in her name to St. Raymond Grade School would be appreciated. For more information please call (815) 741-5500 or you may visit her Memorial Tribute at www.fredcdames.com where you can share a favorite memory or leave an online condolence.
