In Memory of
Richard C. Sullivan
October 25, 1928 - February 1, 2018
Obituary
Richard “Dick” C.
Sullivan, died peacefully in Falls Church, Virginia,
on February 1, 2018. All five children, most of his 13
grandchildren, and all five great-grandchildren were
able to visit him in his final days. Known as “OWO” (“Oh
Wise One”) to his grandchildren, Dick was beloved by his
family and vast community of friends that he and his
late wife, Harriet Walters, enjoyed over 62 years of
married life in Northern New Jersey, Philadelphia,
Virginia, and St. John in the US Virgin Islands.
Born in 1928 to Cyril Sullivan and Nancy Williams
Sullivan in Erie, Pennsylvania, Dick was raised by his
widowed mother and maternal grandparents after his
father’s untimely death in 1931. He grew up in a small
brick house at 217 East Ave., along with a passel of
cousins under the watchful eye of a close-knit community
of Irish, Polish, and other recent arrivals to the
neighborhood. Dick’s elders were active in civic,
commercial and political life, several of whom were
bricklayers and masonry contractors who built many
public and private buildings that remain standing in
Erie to this day. One uncle, Joseph C. Williams, served
as Erie’s mayor; another was a three-term county
registrar. His mother was a bookkeeper in the city
public schools. Their diversity and commitment to
family, neighbor and city, and to an honest day’s work,
influenced Dick throughout his life. All who knew him
enjoyed his intellect, congeniality, warmth, and sense
of humor.
After graduating from East High School, Dick would be
the first in his family to attend college, entering
Allegheny College in 1944 and graduating in 1950 with a
B.A. in Political Science and Economics, after a break
for Army service in Japan. Marriage to Harriet, an M.A.
in Political Science from the University of
Pennsylvania, and five children would follow.
Dick had a long and impactful career in public
administration that began with his first job with the
New York Port Authority as an administrative trainee in
1951. After seven years in the Port Division, Dick was
loaned to the State Department as Assistant to the
Executive Director to head the US Pavilion at the 1958
Brussels World’s Fair, where he also managed the
American Theater stage where many luminary American
artists appeared, including his personal favorite young
artist named Harry Belafonte. Many years later,
Belafonte would remark to Dick that his appearance in
Brussels was most memorable because it was there that he
met Eleanor Roosevelt, a source of great inspiration in
Belafonte’s work with the civil rights movement.
In 1961, after returning from his overseas assignment,
Dick was named Director of the World Trade Center, where
he was responsible for marketing, architecture,
engineering, operations and financial planning of the
100-story towers up to the point of actual construction,
serving as principal witness in litigation and
regulatory hearings. Widely credited with resolving the
disagreement between New York and New Jersey regarding
the Center’s location, Dick’s recommendation to build it
on the lower west side of Manhattan ultimately
prevailed. For Dick, the World Trade Center represented
something more than the world’s tallest building. As he
remarked in a 1964 interview, “They’re not really just
buildings, but structures unique in every aspect. We see
the creativity of the scores of people who have
contributed to them. When we talk of the United Nations,
we generally think of the people in the organization and
not the buildings that house them. When the Trade Center
is completed, people from the world over will be working
together daily, and it will represent something more
than buildings.” As testament to the skill involved in
managing the Trade Center project, Peter Drucker would
later say that it was the best managerial job he had
ever seen.
After leaving the Port Authority in 1974 as Director of
Public Affairs, Dick joined the US Rail Association in
Washington, DC, relocating to Philadelphia in 1976 after
Congress created Conrail, a public corporation dedicated
to rebuilding and reorganizing the US rail system after
the collapse of the Penn Central Railroad. For 17 years
until his retirement in 1993, Dick would occupy various
senior executive roles. As Vice President, Human
Resources, he oversaw non-contractual aspects of human
resources management for 25,000 Conrail employees. He
would also negotiate over 5,000 miles of fiber optic
cable telecommunications installations in Conrail’s
right-of-way. As Vice President, Passenger Services, he
oversaw the consolidation of Amtrak and other commuter
lines in Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey and
Connecticut and transferred them to regional authorities
in 1982. A “railroader” at heart, he took great delight
in his assignment as Chairman and President of the
Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad which is still operating
with its fleet of 1,400 cars in the Chicago area.
After retirement, Dick and Harriet split their time
between Leesburg, Virginia and Coral Bay on the
Caribbean island of St John. On St. John, Dick would
read to kindergarteners at the Guy Benjamin School,
while he and Harriet were generous supporters of local
artists, attenders of the Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship in Paradise, and regular patrons of Skinny
Legs, a local watering hole. It was here, on the deck
overlooking Coral Bay, that Dick and Harriet often
commented that they felt most “at home”. The house they
built, “Just Right,” became a haven for family and
friends, honeymooners, or simply someone who needed a
place to be. There they found plenty of laughter, great
conversation, and the St. John spirit. As time wore on,
Dick and Harriet took up residence at Goodwin House, a
life care community in Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia,
where they were both surrounded by loving friends and
family until the end of their days.
Services to celebrate
Dick’s life will be held at Goodwin House in early
March. Specific information will be sent when
arrangements are completed. The family requests that any
memorial gifts kindly be directed to St. John Rescue at
www.stjohnrescue.com.
Below are the names of Dick and Harriet’s children:
Betsy S. Gardiner (David McL. Gardiner), Arlington, VA
Nancy S. Skinner (Sherrod E. Skinner), Milton, MA
Richard C. Sullivan, Jr., (Elizabeth C. Sullivan),
McLean, VA
Harriet Sullivan, Villanova, PA
Matthew R. Sullivan (Dorian D. Sullivan), Grand Rapids,
MI
Plus, 13 Grandchildren and 5 Great-grandchildren
