Lucille (Dame) Sullivan

Grace Lucille Dame Sullivan January 9, 1915 January 1, 2016 (Grace) Lucille (Dame) Sullivan, passed away peacefully on January 1, 2016, 8 days short of her 101st birthday. Lucille was born in 1915 at home in Athol, Mass. to Ira and Annette (Nettie) Dower. She had a close family that reunited frequently over the years, and she was pre-deceased by her two brothers, Gurdon and Phil Dower, and her sister, Aaria Hunton. Her mother, Nettie, came from an old New England family that included some of the original Mayflower pilgrims. Lucille was a member of what some have called ""The Greatest Generation."" She graduated from high school in 1933 during the Great Depression. She was athletic, gifted with a wonderful singing voice and the ability to play piano, which included sight-reading music like the rest of us read a book. She was a high academic achiever in high school, but in the Depression the money was not there for her college costs. She married Frederick (Fred) Dame on November 2, 1940, and they became the parents of four children over the years. Together, they lived in thirteen different states and spent three wonderful years in Japan while Fred served as a career Air Force officer, ending his career as a Colonel. Upon retirement they moved to Wethersfield, CT and were members of the First Church of Christ, where Lucille sang frequent solo parts as a member of the choir. Lucille also taught Ikebana flower arranging while in Wethersfield. After Fred's second retirement, they moved to East Dennis, Cape Cod, MA, where he passed away suddenly in 1978. In 1982 she married Jack Sullivan, and they enjoyed many happy years together, playing golf and traveling extensively, until his death in 1990. Her marriage to Jack Sullivan expanded her family to include her devoted stepdaughter, Andrea (McGrath) Gotti, and stepsons, Greg and Richard Sullivan, and all of her family embraced one another. After Jack's death, Lucille enjoyed several happy years with her good friend Dick Duell, whose kindness and love was appreciated until his death in 2001. Lucille loved her home on Cape Cod, the nearby beaches, her neighbors and friends, the golf courses, and her church, and she enjoyed hosting all her family members who came to share her love of the Cape. Lucille was a faithful Christian and a stalwart member of church choirs from childhood until well into her 90's (more than 80 years of singing in choirs!). She was a member of the First Congregational Church in Yarmouth Port, MA and sang with their choir for over 30 years. She also enjoyed many rounds of golf with her friends in the Dennis Ladies 18-Holers group as well as being active in the Village Garden Club of Dennis. Lucille loved people and had a gift for making friends wherever she went. As a traveling military wife, she constantly succeeded in making her newest home a special place for her family. In her forties she learned Japanese at Yale University to prepare for Fred's assignment to a military advisory group in Tokyo and became impressively fluent in the language. While in Japan she learned Ikebana flower arranging, taught Japanese students English from her home, and became adept at driving on Tokyo's streets - on the left. Lucille was also an avid reader who made the most of her local library's resources. In her final years, she was known to break out into a chorus of ""Amazing Grace"" or ""Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree"" as she sat at the piano in her last apartment at Kittery Estates in Kittery, Maine, where she was loved and cared for by so many wonderful people there. She is survived by her four children and their spouses: Philip and Linda Dame of Annandale, VA; Ceila and Al Robbins of Bolton, CT; Natalie and Paul Crotty of Strafford, NH; and Jack and Kim Dame of Eliot, ME; her stepchildren Andrea and Bob Gotti of East Dennis, MA; and Greg and Karen Sullivan of San Antonio, TX; nine grandchildren (Jennifer, Sarah, Rebecca, Allison, Ryan, Rachel, Julie, Keri, and Heather), and five great-grandchildren (Zach, McKenzie, Kaleigh, Samantha and Madison). All revered her as a gracious and loving woman with a strong, cheerful and giving spirit and a great sense of humor. Lucille's life will be held in esteemed remembrance and she will be deeply missed by her family and friends. Family and friends are invited to attend a memorial service which will be held at the First Congregational Church of Yarmouth, in Yarmouth Port, MA on, February 13, 2016 at 1:30 pm. Memorial donations may be made to the church (329 Main Street, Yarmouth Port, MA 02675) or to the Jacob Sears Memorial Library (23 Center St., P.O. Box 782, East Dennis, MA. 02660).

Lucille (Dame) Sullivan

January 9, 1915 - January 1, 2016

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