Theresa was born in Canton on February 14, 1928 to Michael Connolly and Rosella (Lavoie) Connolly. She was just 11 months old when her father succumbed to an ailment he developed serving in the U.S. Army in Siberia during World War I. She and her brothers, the late John and James, were raised in Dorchester’s Codman Square by their mother, who died in 1972.
As a child, Theresa loved the Girl Scouts and often talked about the pride and confidence the organization gave her. She enjoyed summer trips to Lake Boon in Sudbury when it would take all day to drive there from Boston, and she had to ride in a rumble seat with her brothers and cousin – the late William Brackman. As an adult, Theresa loved work and cherished the many friendships she made at her jobs. She adored animals, especially her many cats, and she always had a craft project or a jigsaw puzzle she was working on. She became adept at needlepoint, crocheting, and was the family tailor.
She was a 1944 graduate of Jeremiah Burke High School in Dorchester, and went to work for the Veterans Administration helping process the paperwork for the troops returning from World War II. She stopped working to raise a family with her husband, the late Philip F. Sullivan, first in Dorchester, later in her birthplace of Canton, and finally in Needham. When her sons were old enough, she went back to work in the late 1960s first at the Mainco Trading Co. in Canton, then later at a variety of places throughout the region including Carters clothing in Needham, where she managed the design department for many years, and later the front desk at Dedham Medical.
She is survived by her three sons and their wives, Philip and Mary Sullivan of West Bridgewater, Mass.; Paul and Perri Sullivan of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Brian and Lexa Sullivan of Norwood. She also leaves a nephew, Van Connolly and his wife Cindy, of Portland, Oregon, nine grandchildren, six great-grandchildren as well as many cousins.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to the Good Shepherd Hospice:
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