Pat Sullivan
February 6, 1945 - February 4, 2024
James Patrick Sullivan III, known as Pat by most, passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 4th surrounded by family after a quick illness. It’s hard to sum up such a person and such a life in just a few paragraphs. Pat was someone who impacted countless people around the world. He had numerous adventures and was always there for his family. He took every chance to give back to others and make a difference. He was kind, generous, quiet, and strong.
Pat was a family-centered person. He grew up in a large Catholic family, the eldest child of six, and family was the center of his life. His siblings remember him dropping in while he was in college for spontaneous dinners which would turn into celebrations and reunions. He was a constant at every family gathering, always ready with a smile and a laugh. Pat took care of his family, whether that was making sure visiting family members had what they needed, or providing snacks for grandkids during visits, ranging from Froot Loops to the constant stash of pistachios at his workshop.
Pat was also a constant adventurer. During his life, he visited every continent and never said no to a new adventure, whether it was eating ants, swimming with sharks, going on an ayahuasca trip, or hiking around the caldera of a volcano in the pouring rain.
Pat did many Habitat for Humanity builds on these trips, volunteering his numerous skills as a contractor to construct homes around the world for those in need. Pat’s generosity is one of the things people remember best about him. He spent many years volunteering for Hospice, where he did home visits, sitting with and supporting those in their final hours. He helped make the world a better place and helped those around him in ways big and small, from organizing groups to participate in charity walks, to assisting his friends and family with home repairs and renovations, to secretly dropping off an eyeglass repair kit when his granddaughter broke hers. Pat was one of those special people who gave of himself without asking for anything in return. His family will also miss all the other little things about him: the memories and personality traits and surprising talents that can’t be fully captured here.
Pat was a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, serving an 18-month tour of duty in Vietnam. He was a talented singer, singing with the Empire Lyric Players, a Gilbert and Sullivan company, as a young man. He met his former wife Shirley and they raised their children Sara, Ryan, and Matthew together. Pat was an impressively loud Denver Broncos fan, never missing a game. He always brought shrimp, cocktail sauce, and his famously thunderous exclamations during the game. Pat was a master of breakfast food cooking and had a hollow dessert leg. He had a dry sense of humor and an impressive beard. He was incredibly smart, studying Math and Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines and then Business and Economics at Metro State University. Pat parlayed this education and a lot of hard work to build an impressive career working as a General Contractor of his own company and managing real estate properties.
Finally, Pat was as tough as the nails with which he built. He delighted in astonishing children by showing them that he only had nine fingers after an early mishap with a saw. But this never prevented him from serving as a jungle gym for the grandchildren who would joyfully leap on him during his visits. Pat was a constant support for those in his life, a source of advice if you needed it or just a solid shoulder to lean on.
Pat will be missed and remembered by his partner, Bonnie; his three children, Sara, Ryan, and Matthew; his seven grandchildren; and his loving extended family. It’s impossible to name all his friends, coworkers, fellow volunteers, and the many people whose lives he impacted and who will remember him. Everything Pat was and did cannot be described by a handful of words, but the following, selected by his grandchildren, come close: “adventurous, humble, and giving,” “dedicated,” “a formidable patriarch of the family,” “altruistic…saw the good in people…most down to earth man I ever met,” “old man,” “kind and generous,” and “like a Squishmallow.”
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far
To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause
And I know if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest
And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star
(Man of LaMancha, “To Dream the Impossible Dream”)
Make a Donation In Honor of Pat
As he would have wanted, please send donations to one of the following organizations:
AdventHealth Foundation Rocky Mountain (Porter Hospice) and mailed to PO Box 913401, Denver, CO 80291
Parkinson’s Pointe: 12500 E. Iliff Ave, Aurora, CO 80014
Celebration of Life
Sunday, February 18th, 2024
3:00PM
Denver Elks Club
2475 W. 26th Ave.
Denver, CO 80211
The parking lot is in front of the club, additional parking is in the lot on the SW corner. If you can’t make it in person, please join us in spirit with a toast for Pat/Dad/Grampa at 4 p.m. (ish)