Rocky Sullivan

Rocky Sullivan Died at age 59, on Sunday, November 25th, 2007, from complications of lupus and myelodysplastic syndrome. Alongside his wife, he owned and operated Muffin Mania, a bakery café in the Gerstle Park neighborhood of San Rafael for nearly 25 years until his death. Rocky was born Anthony Galante, on January 5th, 1948, in Brooklyn, New York. In his earlier life, he was a singer and songwriter who evolved with the ages performing doo wop with The Visuals and earning his first record contract at age 14. Later, he sang vocals for the folk group The Braid. At age 20, he met his wife, Ilona, in the Catskill Mountains and they married in 1970. He went solo as Rocky Sullivan and soon after made his stage name his legal name. During this time he left New York City and moved to Marin County in 1976 with his wife, son, and a suitcase full of songs. He pursued a career in music and went on to play with many Bay Area artists, including John and Mario Cipollina, Joey Covington, Gregg Douglas, and Nicky Hopkins. Rocky and Ilona opened Muffin Mania on January 4th, 1983 and have since been nourishing generations of Marin families. They have supported the community in countless ways through their business. In his free time, Rocky enjoyed writing songs, mystery novels, and screenplays. He loved his family and friends and enjoyed entertaining them with his humor and fantastic meals. He loved hiking with his wife and dogs in the Indian Valley Open Space Preserve. He was a Reiki Master and was interested in integrative medicine ever since he was diagnosed with lupus nearly 30 years ago. Rocky is survived by his wife Ilona Sullivan, sister Nina Catania, sons Dylan Galante and Jarrett Galante, daughters-in-law Natalie and Emily, brothers-in-law Douglas and Gene, Gene's wife Diep, nephews Seth, Alex, Ari, and Max, Seth's wife, Carol, niece Nancy, her husband Pierre and their children, Genevieve and Julian, as well as numerous other relatives. A celebration of his life will take place on Sunday, December 9th, 2007 at 12 Noon at Muffin Mania, 2 Bayview Street in San Rafael. A private memorial service for family and friends will be held at a later date. Donations may be made in his memory to The Lupus Foundation of America, www.lupus.org, or The Myelodysplastic Syndromes Foundation, at: www.mds-foundation.org. Rocky, ROCK ON!!!