Kay was born on January 29, 1934 to John C. (Jack) and Helen R. Weiman, in Brooklyn, New York. She attended Our Lady Help of Christians elementary school and graduated from St. Saviour High School in Brooklyn. She received her nursing degree (B.S.N) from Nazareth College in Rochester, New York, a Masters in Counseling from University of Missouri, Kansas City, a Masters in Nursing (M.S.N.) from University of Kansas, and her Ph.D. in adult education from Kansas State University.
She was a visiting nurse in Brooklyn, professor of nursing at Avila College, Chair of the Board of Prime Health, Director of Continuing Education at Avila College, and finally the leader of the Accelerated Nursing program at Research College of Nursing in Kansas City, Missouri, reflecting her lifelong dedication to education and to nursing. She was an author, lecturer, a respected and beloved teacher and mentor to hundreds of nursing students and to the nursing and teaching communities as a leader in the Missouri Nurses Association and the Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society.
On May 17, 1958, she married Paul Sylvester Sullivan, after meeting in Willard, New York, during training for her nursing degree. Kay and Paul raised seven kids. Kay was a eucharistic minister at Our Lady of Lords in Gales Ferry, Connecticut and a dedicated volunteer in many parishes where she lived. She also loved writing letters by hand to her friends and family, finishing the New York Times Sunday puzzle, listening to classical music at sensible volumes, swimming (“The Kay Way”), and most of all being at the beach, first Breezy Point in Queens, then Shennecossett Beach in Groton, Connecticut, and finally from the balcony overlooking the Pacific at Scripps Inn in La Jolla, California. She would also want to remind everyone to take their hats off in the house, to stop bellowing, and to take their elbows off the table, because some things never change.
Kay was preceded in death by her father Jack, her mother Helen, her beloved Auntie Mae (Graham), her mother-in-law May Sullivan, her sister-in-law Joan (McGoldrick), and her son Kevin. She is survived by her husband Paul, her brother-in-law Frank and nephew Patrick, her cousin Marjorie (and Edwin Tillotson), her six children, Mary Kay (Pete Doyle), John (Paula Stokes), Mark, Ellen (Cam Martin), Paul (Marsha Heeb), and Michael, and by her grandchildren, Claire, Evan, Rachel, Thomas and Kate.
A service will be held for immediate family on Monday, May 18, 2020.
Donations may be sent to these funds:
- Dr. Kay Sullivan Scholarship Endowment Fund, 2316 E. Meyer Blvd, Kansas City, MO, 64132 or at https://www.theresearchfoundationkc.org/how-to-help/donate.html, specify in honor of Dr. Kay Sullivan Scholarship Endowment Fund.
- Paul S. & Kathryn W. Sullivan Endowment Fund, Avila University, 11901 Wornall Rd, Kansas City, MO, 64145 or at https://www.avila.edu/donate; specify Other: Sullivan Endowment Fund
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