Rev. Kenneth J. Sullivan, M.M., Mass Of Christian Burial

Father Kenneth J. Sullivan died on July 15, 2024 in the Assisted Living Unit at Maryknoll, New York.  He was 97 years old and a Maryknoll priest for 67 years.

Kenneth Joseph Sullivan was born in New York City on December 13, 1926, near the present location of the United Nations Building.  He was the only child of Eugene and Veronica Walsh Sullivan.  After a year, the first of many moves that occurred in Father Sullivan’s life, his family moved to the South Bronx where he started school.  He moved again to Queens, New York, where he entered the School of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Astoria, from which he graduated in 1943.  He attended La Salle Academy, a high school run by the La Salle Brothers of Christian Instruction.  It was here that he first considered and became interested in becoming a priest. After hearing a conference given by Monsignor George Carroll, M.M., he decided to enter Maryknoll.

In 1944, he volunteered to enter the United States Navy.  He was accepted and became a hospital corpsman and served for twenty months. After being honorably discharged, he reapplied to Maryknoll and was accepted to enter the Maryknoll Minor Seminary in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1946.  He attended Maryknoll Junior College in Lakewood, New Jersey for two years, Maryknoll Seminary for six years and was ordained at Maryknoll, New York on June 8, 1957.

After ordination, Father Sullivan was assigned to the Maryknoll Mission in Africa to work in the new Diocese of Musoma, Tanzania which had been established that same year.  Shortly after his arrival in September, he attended the consecration of Bishop John Rudin, the first Maryknoll Bishop of Musoma.  Father Sullivan was assigned to the newly opened mission of Zanaki, named for the people who lived in the area.  This mission became his home for five years as he settled in to learn the language and customs of the people who were the Zanaki ethnic group.  There were several changes of assignment to different missions throughout Musoma Diocese principally among the Wakwaya and Wajita people of South Mara. 

Father Sullivan was known among Maryknollers in the Region as a wonderful mimic and an MC and star in the occasional humorous skits at Regional gatherings, which they called a Gaudeamus.

In 1978, Father Sullivan was assigned to the United States Region and the Development Department for work in the St. Louis, Missouri area. In 1981, his assignment was extended for one year and in June 1982, he was asked to extend his work until June 1983 in order to assist in the establishment of a House of Formation and Study in St. Louis for Maryknoll candidates on the college level.

In August 1983, Father Sullivan was reassigned to Tanzania to work once again in the Musoma Diocese. However, in 1986, he was again asked to work in the Development Department and this work brought him to Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Florida, Chicago, and Seattle.

Father Sullivan returned to Tanzania in September 1989 where he and Father Joseph Reinhart were the founding fathers of Mwisenge parish in Musoma town.  Although he retired in July 1997, he continued to help out at the Buhare outstation of Mwisenge parish and eventually he funded the building of a church in dedication to his mother.  Buhare is now a thriving parish.  Among his many pastoral achievements, perhaps the most profound took place during these retirement years when Father Sullivan visited the homes of HIV/AIDS patients throughout the area.  He found this experience the most meaningful part of his missionary ministry.

Father Sullivan continued his work in Tanzania until May 2011 when he took up residence at the Maryknoll Society Center, Maryknoll, New York.  He was assigned to the Retirement Community (now Senior Missioner Community) in June 2011.

Father Sullivan is survived by his cousins: Robert Caffrey, 26 Club Lane, Levittown, NY  11756-3502; Bruce and Barbara Mueller, 2783 Moody Town Road, Bumpass, VA  23024; Charles Sullivan, 419 Totem Lodge Rd., Averill Park, NY  12018; Edward Caffrey, 42 Dayton Road, Flemington, NY 08822; and Ann Reynolds, 32501 Goddard Drive, Wesley Chapel, FL  33543.

Wake services were held on July 19, 2024 in the Holy Spirit Chapel and the Queen of Apostles Chapel at the Maryknoll Society Center.  Mass of Christian Burial followed at 11:00 a.m. and was concelebrated in the Queen of Apostles Chapel.  Father Michael Snyder was the Celebrant and homilist.  Father Francis Breen read the biography and Father Edward Davis read the Oath.  Burial followed in the Maryknoll Society Cemetery with Father Timothy Kilkelly presiding at the graveside prayers.

Each Maryknoll priest is requested to offer Mass for the repose of the soul of Father Sullivan; all Maryknollers are requested to remember him in their private and public prayers.