Roger John Sullivan

Roger John Sullivan was born April 25, 1932 in Seattle, Washington to John Vernon "Jack" Sullivan and Gladys Solveg Krogstad.   He was second of two children born in the midst of the Great Depression.  He was an inquisitive and very intelligent child, characteristics that remained with him his entire life.  Roger spent his teenage years in Black Diamond, Washington.  After graduating from high school in Enumclaw, Washington, Roger was admitted to the University of Washington. There he obtained a BA in Transportation.  He was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, of which his father was a founding member.  Roger joined the Air Force ROTC, and developed a life-long love of flying.  While at the university, Roger met Suzanne Jane "Sue" French on a blind date that was arranged by his best friend Alberto Parjus and her best friend, Constance "Peachie" Galvagno, a girlfriend of Alberto's.  Sue was a student at Queen Anne High School, as was Peachie.  They became engaged and married in 1955 in Seattle.  Roger began an Air Force career doing his flight training in Tucson.  Once he received his wings the young couple headed to San Angelo, Texas where he flew C-119 Flying Boxcars.  After their time in Tucson, he was sent next to Milwaukee.  It was there that Sue became pregnant with their first child, Allan Michael (Al) Sullivan.  In 1958 they moved back to Seattle after Roger's active service ended.  There they had two more sons, Stephen Andrew (Steve) and Brian Vernon.  Their long-desired daughter Dianna Lynn was born in 1964.  That same year, Roger, now working for the catalog division of Sears, Roebuck and Company, was transferred to Chicago.  After nine years there, the family was transferred several times. They first transferred to Memphis, then Kansas City, followed by Dallas, and finally Los Angeles.  It was there that Roger left Sears due to restructuring and closure of the LA plant.  Roger and Sue then moved to San Marcos, California, followed by 22+ years in Escondido, where he built a Pulsar kit airplane, which was his pride and joy.  Sadly, he never flew the plane, but he had a lot of fun building it.  Both he and Sue were active people, playing golf regularly at the Escondido Country Club, where they were long-time members, and beyond, as well as tennis.  They took up square dancing while in Dallas, which is something they very much enjoyed.  They loved RV camping and spending time with their family.  In 2014 Roger and Sue decided to move to Katy, Texas to be near their son Brian.  There Sue's health took a turn for the worse and she passed away in April of this year.  Roger relocated back to Escondido to live with his first son Al, where he enjoyed participating in old pilot groups. He fell ill October 18 and was admitted to Palomar Medical Center, where he unexpectedly passed away October 23.  Roger is survived by sons Al (Marisa Jimenez), Steve and Brian, as well as daughter Dianna Ataiyan, several grandchildren and great grandchildren, as well as his older brother Robert Glen (Bob) Sullivan and his wife June. 

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