Ann Finneran Sullivan

Ann Marie Finneran Sullivan-revered New York school leader, teacher, and mentor to countless students and colleagues over a nearly 60-year career-died September 22 of pancreatic cancer. She was 79.

Ann spent the bulk of her career at two institutions: Friends Seminary of New York City and School of the Holy Child of Rye, NY. She was a joyful, visionary force at both places. Her impact is especially clear at Holy Child, which she led for 14 years, sharply increasing enrollment and student achievement; building a new, modern library and classroom space for science and technical learning; and creating a global curriculum that included exchange programs around the world.

She took great pride in deep, lasting relationships with students and colleagues. Few things brought Ann greater pleasure than running into a former student in a far-flung place. Inevitably, she would remember not just that student's name, but her college choice, her parents,' and siblings' names-and a favorite book.

Learning, service and community were the bedrock principles of Ann's life. She lived those values in so many ways: imbuing a generation of Friends Seminary students with the confidence that comes from grappling with Melville or Bronte; giving an unexpected hug to a student on the first day of school; sharing a few weekend hours with a friend's daughter to map out college options; and sending that new Colson Whitehead novel to a friend.

No one benefited more from her love and guiding hand than her family-her husband of 56 years, Dick, her sons David and Andrew, their spouses, Adi and Erica, her many nieces and nephews, and her beloved grandchildren, Anna, Felix and Xavier. She shaped her children's lives in countless positive ways, but none more than by instilling a lifelong love for learning and a commitment to service.

Ann was a proud New Yorker: born and raised in White Plains, the daughter of a nurse (Margaret Harten) and chemical engineer (Sherman Finneran) with her brothers Jim, Bob and Tom. She brought up her family in Brooklyn, moved to Rye to become head of school, and spent the final years of her life on Manhattan's Upper West Side. She and Dick thrilled at life in the city, exploring neighborhood by subway and bus, visiting new restaurants-especially late at night-and going to the philharmonic. They did these things always in the company of friends, a roster which seemed to grow every year. Ann's life was also marked by many joyful summers in Maine, on Great Cranberry Island, surrounded by a multi-generational network of much-loved friends. That community was never more loving and supportive of Ann than in the final months of her life.

Ann was predeceased by her three brothers: James, Robert and Thomas Finneran. She is survived by her husband Richard; her sons David and Andrew, her daughters-in-law Adi Segal and Erica Matthews, and her grandchildren Anna, Felix and Xavier.

Donations in Ann's memory may be made to the Ann Sullivan Fund for the Teaching of English Language and Literature at Friends Seminary or the Ann Sullivan Fund for Global Studies at School of the Holy Child.