Lt. Col. James (Jim) Bernard Sullivan

Lieutenant Colonel James (Jim) Bernard Sullivan, age 77, formerly of Knoxville, passed away January 18th, 2017. During his time in Knoxville, he was a member of Laurel Church of Christ, retired TVA, and retired Lt. Colonel from the United States Army. He is preceded in death by his parents Judge Connard and Dorothy Sullivan. He is survived by his loving and dedicated wife of 53 years Joy Jan Sullivan; his daughter Joy Ericson and her husband Paul, and his 3 grandsons, Alexander James (age 15), Samuel Paul (age 10), Thomas Joseph (age 6), and brother-in-law Larry Cole and wife Shirley. Jim grew up in Pikeville, TN where he was a member of the Pikeville United Methodist Church, and graduated from Tennessee Technology University as a Civil Engineer. He then served in the U.S. Army, where he was stationed in Germany, Ft. Stuart, GA, and Ft. Belvoir, VA. He served 27 years combined in the U.S. Army and the Army Reserves. He received many awards including the Meritorious Service Medal. He also served as the Commander of the 844th Engineering Battalion during his service. After retiring from the Army and the Tennessee Valley Authority where he worked for 27 years, he had more time to volunteer at church and as well as other areas in the community. Jim was an avid jogger, running races often; an avid golfer, and a racquetball player. He also was a dedicated Tennessee Volunteer fan. He enjoyed collecting rocks, coins, stamps, and gem mining. But one of his greatest loves was being a Papa and spending as much time as possible with his grandchildren. He loved watching them play sports and was their biggest fan. He and Jan would travel to all their events and baseball trips and he would be the first one to jump on all the high speed rides with the boys anywhere they were for baseball. Their favorite was Splash Mountain at Disney. “He is an awesome Papa!” (quoted by his 3 grandsons). He is also a loving husband and wonderful father. Jim always had a can-do attitude and never gave up despite the health challenges he had to overcome. “He fought the fight,…mission accomplished”. A message from Jan: “Jim, it has been my pleasure and honor to have taken care of you these years; I am very proud of you and you are forever my sweetheart. Trust in the Lord and he will take care of you.” The family would like to express sincere appreciation to Dr. Tom Anderson and Nurse Chasity for the more than 40 years of wonderful care. A Celebration of Life service will be held 3:00 p.m., Sunday, January 22, 2017 Rose Mortuary Mann Heritage Chapel with receiving of friends from 1:00-3:00 p.m., preceding the service. The interment service will take place 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, January 24, at the Georgia National Cemetery, 1080 Veterans’ Cemetery Rd., Canton GA. Memorial contributions be made to Laurel Church of Christ Building Fund, P.O. Box 10248 Knoxville, TN 37919. On-line condolences may be extended at www.rosemortuary. Arrangements by Rose Mortuary Mann Heritage Chapel.

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Lt. Col. James (Jim) Bernard Sullivan

September 1, 1939 - January 19, 2017