Kathleen Elizabeth Sullivan

June 18, 1926May 24, 2020

Kathleen E. Sullivan was a force to be reckoned with. She was articulate, smart, demanding. Folks were fascinated by her mercurial, insightful mind always searching for lucidity. And although she had a quick wit and good sense of humor, she could be intimidating. Kathleen was born in Berkeley, Calif. and was raised on a dairy ranch, The Orinda Creamery, nestled in the Orinda hills. She attended College of the Pacific (now University of the Pacific) in Stockton Calif., but received her Bachelor of Arts in Speech at the University of California at Berkeley in 1950. She earned her Masters of Arts degree at the University of Hawaii in 1953.

Of Irish descent, Kathleen was fiercely proud of her heritage and visited her many relatives in Ireland several times maintaining contact with her cousins over the years. She delighted in regaling us with tales of the generous hospitality she received in Ireland with, of course, drinking and eating to excess, lively fiddle music, and energetic dancing into the wee hours.

At U.C. Berkeley, Kathleen studied under an exciting but tough professor, Aurora Quiros, known to her friends as Tita, who had begun the English Language program for foreign students at the University. Tita had a powerful reputation that intimidated Kathleen from taking her class. Kathleen wrote, “When at last I entered one of her classes, she turned my floundering life around, and my education began to matter. I took everything she taught after that, including individual, advanced studies, becoming her protégée of sorts, or, to quote my mother, ‘the tail on Tita’s comet.’

“Tita and I became rare friends that could communicate in half sentences or with a look or gesture. We enjoyed speaking in quotes, as well, since we knew some of the same literature.” Tita was offered a professorship at University of Hawaii and Kathleen followed her there for graduate school. “So off we went on the S.S. Lurline…Traveling to Hawaii by luxury liner was certainly an elegant way to approach graduate school, even if we were in the bottom of the boat.”

Kathleen lectured in Speech at U.C. Berkeley for a few years, then taught English and, following Tita’s lead, taught English as a Second Language at Merritt College in Oakland for over 25 years. Kathleen took early retirement at 55, but as a natural teacher, she took every opportunity to continue teaching English to those who were non-native speakers.

While teaching at Merritt, Kathleen wrote Paragraph Practice, an extraordinary textbook on how to write a paragraph or short composition, first published in 1967, and widely used in schools and colleges throughout the U.S. Every second year her publisher, McMillan, implored her to write an updated version. Now, after 53 years, it is in its seventh edition and remains available. A master at writing succinctly, she could tell an entire story in a single, descriptive paragraph or capture a precise feeling with just one word. Kathleen had a great appreciation for all the arts, having studied violin since age four. Together with her dear friend, Anne Anderson, she had season’s tickets to the opera, (only the best seats, of course), the symphony, theaters, and memberships to all museums in addition to Berkeley Repertory Theater. Kathleen was a patron of Berkley Rep and donated a memorial brick in honor of Anne, which she visited whenever she attended a performance.

She had a powerful operatic voice and perfect pitch and had a habit of suddenly bursting into song no matter where she happened to be, sometimes to the consternation of those around her. She also loved to quote poetry with a forceful resonance and had a remarkable repertoire of memorized verses.

For 57 years, Kathleen lived in a dramatic house in the Berkeley hills with a magnificent view of the Bay from above the Campanile. She insisted that the bird baths be filled daily, and delighted in watching the quail scurrying for seeds in the yard. Sitting on her patio in the evening, drink in hand, she’d watch the hawks soar above the canyons. Thanks to many years of spending weekends “junking” with her friend, Anne, Kathleen filled her home with a considerable collection of art and antiques. Every wall was covered, floor to ceiling, with paintings or objets d’art. She was something of an expert on Early Californian art and owned several remarkable landscapes by renowned artists of the time. She also had an extensive collection of Arts and Crafts pottery and, despite calling herself “Slambango,” she never broke any of the pieces— which were everywhere and on every surface of her house!

Kathleen lived life to the fullest and on her own terms. Her zest for life never deserted her nor did her pursuit for new experiences. Feisty, outspoken yet sensitive, uncannily intuitive, a sharp wit, wicked sense of humor, incisive, perceptive, thoughtful and caring, collectively describe Kathleen Elizabeth Sullivan. When one lives to be 94, many friends have already gone: Tita and Anne, the two who most molded Kathleen’s life, many other dear friends, especially Hank, Bob, Vietti and Natalie.

Kathleen is survived by her niece, Jacki Sullivan, and innumerable cousins, too many to name here. She will be remembered by many and her memory will be cherished, above all, by her most dedicated and loving friends, Sande and Elizabeth.

Kathleen will be interred at Chapel of the Chimes’ Julia Morgan Columbarium, on Piedmont Ave in Oakland. As with Anne’s, a portion of Kathleen’s ashes will be strewn near Red Rock Island in San Francisco Bay.

Special thanks to the nurses and caregivers at Silverado Berkeley Memory Care, where Kathleen lived the last year of her life. She had the best care from their kind, attentive staff, and with their technological assistance, Kathleen was able to maintain her relationship with Sande in spite of the restrictions imposed by the Corona pandemic.