Jean Hayden Sullivan

Jean Hayden Sullivan, 84, passed away on Dec. 20, 2017 at Sedgewood Commons in Falmouth, surrounded by her loving family. Jean was born on Jan. 1, 1933 (Portland’s first baby of the New Year) to Daniel J. and Margaret (Donahue) Hayden. She and her seven siblings grew up on Munjoy Hill and spent summers on Peaks Island.

Jean attended Cathedral Grammar School and graduated from Cathedral High School in 1951. After graduation, she went to work for the New England Telephone and Telegraph Co. It was there that she met James A. Sullivan. After a six-month courtship, the two were married on Feb. 22, 1955. Together, they raised six children in the Warwick Heights neighborhood of Portland. The family spent summers on Crystal Lake in Gray.

Jean was active in the Hall School PTA, St. Joseph’s Sodality, Cheverus Mothers’ Club, and at Catherine McAuley High School. She was a stay-at-home mother for many years and then went on to work at Unum and St. Joseph’s Convent.

Jean was a woman of deep faith and incredible strength. A three-time cancer survivor, she was fun-loving, feisty, and quick-witted. She had incredible fashion sense and loved to shop. Her many hobbies included travelling, knitting, crocheting, ceramics, gardening, swimming, and reading. She was an amazing cook and baker. Above all else, she was a devoted and protective mother.

In their retirement years, Jean and Jim moved to Peaks Island, where she walked and swam daily, refinished salvaged oak furniture, cultivated perennial flower gardens that would stop passersby, and regaled her grandchildren with summer magic – gathering sea glass on Back Shore, picking blueberries and wild flowers, shopping at the Mercantile, getting ice cream “down front,” and telling ghost stories from island lore.

Jean was predeceased by: her parents; sisters, Sr. Ruth Hayden, RSM and Helen Hayden Joyce; and her brothers, John, Robert, Daniel, and Peter.

Her husband of 60 years passed away on Dec. 21, 2015.

She is survived by:  her children, Susan Sullivan, James Sullivan, and Helen Harder, all of Portland, Joseph Sullivan of Naples, FL, John Sullivan of New Gloucester, and Daniel (wife Deborah) of North Yarmouth; grandchildren, Thomas (wife Katie) Minervino, Jodi (husband Lee) MacVane, Margaret Minervino, John Harder, Ryan and Courtney Sullivan; great-grandchildren, Samuel, James, and Lewis Minervino, and Fiona and Julia MacVane; beloved sister, Margaret “Tooie” O’Donnell (husband Peter); special sister-in-law, Peggy Hayden; two nieces to whom she was especially close, Lisa Joyce and Nancy Hayden; as well as many other nieces and nephews; lifelong friend, Mary Jo O’Donnell Steele; and dear friend Judy Lee.

The family would like to thank The Park Danforth for providing Jean with a safe and happy home for five years and the staff at Sedgewood Commons for their loving care during Jean’s final months.

Friends and family are invited to visiting hours on Tues., Dec. 26, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at A.T. Hutchins Funeral Home, 660 Brighton Ave, Portland. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wed., Dec. 27, at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 307 Congress St, Portland. Interment will follow at Calvary Cemetery, 1461 Broadway, South Portland. Online condolences may be shared with the family at www.athutchins.com.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Jean’s name may be made to:

The Park Danforth

777 Stevens Ave

Portland, ME 04103

Or

Sedgewood Commons

22 Northbrook Drive

Falmouth, ME 04105

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