John L. Sullivan, 86, of rural Wallace, died July 6, 2018, at Linden Court in North Platte.
He was born on Aug. 19, 1931, south of Wallace, to Ed and Genevieve (Priest) Sullivan. He went to grade school in rural Hayes County and graduated from St. Patrick High School in North Platte. John was a lifelong member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Wallace, where he married Donna Johnson in 1950. They lived and actively farmed on the family farm (on a third generation and now a fifth generation farm) since marriage.
John was a volunteer fireman, a director of Farmer’s State Bank of Wallace and a member of the North Platte Catholic Schools Endowment fund. He formed Sullivan Equipment Inc. in the 1950s, building customized fire trucks and equipment for departments from southeast to northwest Nebraska. In the 1960s, the company converted to the ag chemical and fertilizer business and helped introduce liquid fertilizer use and eco-fallow methods in southwest Nebraska. Throughout his life, John supported agriculture by serving as president of Nebraska-Wyoming Wheat Growers; director and chairman of the Nebraska Wheat Board in Lincoln; founding member and board member of the Gasohol Board, which became the Ethanol Board in Lincoln; board member of Great Plains Wheat in Garden City, Kansas; founding member of National Association of Wheat Growers in Washington, D.C.; and secretary-treasurer of Western Wheat Associates in Portland, Oregon. John L. Sullivan was a key member who helped combine Great Plains Wheat and Western Wheat in to what is now U.S. Wheat Associates, the organization that promotes wheat all over the world. These positions gave him the opportunity to travel worldwide promoting Nebraska wheat and all U.S. agriculture.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and a sister-in-law, Mary Alyce Sullivan.
John is survived by Donna, his loving wife of 68 years; children, Cynthia (Robert) Wusk of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Larry (Pam) Sullivan of Deadwood, South Dakota, Joyce (Steve) Tarris of Tucson, Arizona, Mike (Terri) Sullivan of Wallace and Doug (Michelle) Sullivan of Wallace; 16 grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren; a brother, Bill Sullivan; and a sister-in-law, Altha Nielsen.
Due to allergies, the family requests no flowers. A memorial has been established.
Services will be at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 10, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Wallace, with Father Tom Bush officiating. Burial will be at the Wallace Morning View Cemetery. Rosary will be at 7 p.m. on Monday, July 9, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Wallace. Bullock-Long Funeral Home, Grant, is in charge of arrangements.