Robert M. Sullivan, O.S.A.

1908 – 1972 (October 11)

Robert Martin Sullivan, the son of Joseph Sullivan and Anna Reilly, was born in Germantown, Philadelphia on May 18, 1908. He graduated from Augustinian Academy in 1925, was admitted to the novitiate on August 15, 1925, and professed simple vows on August 16, 1926. He graduated from Villanova with a B.A. degree in June, 1929 and was solemnly professed on August 16 of the same year. Following theological studies, he was ordained to thea priesthood on June 14, 1932, in Washington, D.C. by Bishop Emmet Walsh. He received his Master’s degree in Psychology from The Catholic University that same year.

Father Sullivan was assigned in 1933 to Saint Augustine High School, San Diego, where he taught until 1936 when he began studies at Oxford, England. He received his MA in English in 1938 and was assigned to Villanova. Father Sullivan remained teaching at Villanova until 1961 and, in 1950, becoming Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He was then assigned to Biscayne College, Miami in 1962, and was Vice-President and prior until 1968. He then was selected prior of Resurrection Parish in Dania, while teaching part-time at Biscayne. He returned to a full-time teaching position at Biscayne in 1971.

While recovering from a heart attack Father suffered Sullivan a massive stroke and underwent history-making surgery September 26, 1972, being the first person in the United States to undergo the delicate graft of an artery into the brain.

Father Sullivan died at Mercy Hospital, Miami, October 11, 1972, at the age of 64. A Funeral Mass was offered at Biscayne on Friday, October 13, and another at Saint Mary’s Hall, Villanova on Monday, October 16. Burial followed in the community cemetery at Saint Mary’s Hall, Villanova. His remains were later transferred to the Augustinian section of Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken, Pa.