George Earl Sullivan

1932 - 2016

George Earl Sullivan

June 17, 1932 - July 1, 2016

Salem - George "Earl" Sullivan passed away unexpectedly on Friday, July 1, 2016 at Salem Hospital.

Our Dad was born and raised in Kansas City until 1947, when he moved to Hillsboro, Oregon to live with his beloved grandparents, Lee and Katherine Johnson. He graduated from Hillsboro Union High School in 1949.

In 1950, he joined the U.S. Navy and served in combat during the Korean War and served in post-WW-II Japan. He was honorably discharged in 1954, having attained the rank of Chief Petty Officer, Gunner's Mate II. In 1955 he was hired as a Guard at the Oregon State Penitentiary, and promoted up through the ranks. While working full-time at OSP, Dad attended Willamette University (B.A., 1962). In the aftermath of the March, 1968 riot at the Oregon State Penitentiary, he was promoted by Governor Tom McCall to Superintendent, Oregon State Correctional Institution, where he served until retiring December, 1984.

In January, 1985 Dad was hired as Warden over a three-prison complex at the Penitentiary of New Mexico, Santa Fe, which four years earlier had been the scene of the worst prison riot in American history. With the indispensable assistance of his friend, Deputy Warden Gene Pribble, Dad implemented major reforms in Santa Fe. After five years, his ability to make further changes had become hampered by a federal consent decree imposed after the 1980 riot. Dad resigned as Warden in protest against excessive control exercised by the federal court over day-to-day operations. He was immediately hired by the Colorado Department of Corrections as Deputy Director for Operations, where he served for five years.

After retiring from Colorado, he returned to Oregon where he continued to serve as a consultant, auditor, and expert witness on a full array of correctional matters, at all levels of jurisdiction and in all 50 states. In the early 1970's, Dad was one of three principal authors of the Accreditation Standards by which prisons around the United States were evaluated. He assisted in the design of several state-of-the-art prisons, including the super-max U.S. Penitentiary in Florence, Colorado. Often donating his time, Dad was proud of his service as an expert to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Native American Rights Fund, and Sam Paz and Sonia Mercado on several landmark cases as well as his service to the Federal Bureau of Prisons and countless state prison systems and county jails.

Dad believed the morality of a society was reflected in the humanity of its prisons. He believed in vigilant focus on the fundamentals of security, with zero tolerance for inmates asserting control within the prison, in order to provide a safe environment for all inmates to serve their sentences. At the same time always innovating to provide prisoners with educational, religious, work, and vocational training opportunities, including his implementation of the first Native American sweat lodge inside a prison. He was very proud of Oregon's excellent prisons, which have led the nation for decades, thanks to a continuing culture of innovation and truly dedicated employees at all levels, who understand the important contribution of their work to public safety.

While working at OSP, a coworker invited Dad over for dinner, where he met our Mom, Rosalee Joan Sullivan, who survives him. George and Rose married in October of 1957, and raised their children in Salem. George is survived by son Kevin, daughter Kathy, and son Robert. Son, Michael preceded George in death, at age-10, in a drowning accident. George is also survived by grandchildren Kayla, Dorothee, Thomas, Matthew, Katherine, Michael and Ethan.

Dad is survived by his most beloved wife of 59 years, Rosalee. George and Rose were inseparable until Dad's death. They enjoyed occasional ocean cruises and frequent travels across the country (mostly by car) enroute to corrections conferences or to wherever Dad might be called as an expert witness to testify.

Dad was stricken in recent years with a Parkinson's-like condition, but never let it define or limit him. Dad still drove a tractor to help Mom mow the acreage around their home. He always found a way to travel to the beach, zoo, to scholarly lectures with Kathy, or anyplace that would make his children and grandchildren happy and allow them to spend fun and memorable time together. While anticipating surgery to improve his mobility, George suffered a heart attack, which took him from us on July 1, 2016.

He recently celebrated his 84th birthday and, of course, Father's Day. We were incredibly blessed to have him as Rose's husband, and as our Dad and Granddad. He is and will always be very deeply missed.

Visitation: Wednesday, July 13, 10a-5p. Funeral: Thursday, July 14, 1:00 pm at Howell Edwards Doerksen, 1350 Commercial Street SE, Salem, with reception following. 3:30 pm committal service with military honors at Belcrest Memorial Park, 1295 Browning Avenue S., Salem.