Curtis Hooper O'SULLIVAN

O'SULLIVAN, Curtis Hooper Curtis "Hoop" O'Sullivan, 93, passed away, Saturday, April 30, 2016 at his home in Santa Rosa, CA after a short illness. Hoop was born in San Francisco on September 15, 1922 to Curtis and Helen O'Sullivan, attended Grant School in Pacific Heights and graduated from Lowell High School in December 1939. He attended the University of California at Berkeley where his studies were interrupted by the war. He joined Camp Devens, Massachusetts, in August 1942, as an officer in the Reconnaissance Company of the 645th Tank Destroyer Battalion attached to the 45th "Thunderbird" Division. He survived 525 days of front line combat, seeing action in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany, was awarded the Silver Star, and was wounded in action near Salerno in September 1943, receiving the Purple Heart. After the war he returned to U.C. Berkeley to complete his studies and continued his military service in the California Army National Guard, completing his career with the rank of Brigadier General. He also held a series of administrative positions in the Federal Government, ultimately joining the National Park Service, from which he retired in 1979. He is survived by his son, Christopher, and daughter-in-law, Maeve, of Healdsburg. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Mary Elizabeth O'Sullivan (1960-2007), and his brother, Cornelius Dion O'Sullivan (1919-1943), who was lost in the Pacific during World War II. The family would like to thank Santa Rosa Memorial Hospice and Nicole Patterson, Laurie Darling, and Mike Lynch for their loving friendships with Hoop in his latter years.