Isabel Sullivan

1928 - 2025

Isabel Edith Allen Sullivan

1928-2025

Salt Lake City, UT-Isabel Edith Allen Sullivan died April 26 after a life spent in service to others.

As a St. Mark's Hospital nurse for more than three decades, she helped countless patients, new mothers and fellow nurses. As an eager and prolific community volunteer, she gave her time to causes like protecting the rights of retired federal workers and helping Girl Scouts develop leadership skills. As a loyal wife and devoted mother, she counted her family, and the two children raised, among her proudest accomplishments in life.

Mrs. Sullivan was born on Oct. 17, 1928, in the U.S. Army hospital at Fort Banks, Winthrop, Mass. When she was less than six months old, she developed diphtheria; a doctor proclaimed she wouldn't live to see her first birthday. She saw 96 of them.

She was the fourth of six children born to Warren Edgar and Edith Ellen Towle Allen, a family who shared a love that kept them close at heart, if not always in distance.

Her father was an Army officer whose career took the family many places. As a child, Mrs. Sullivan lived in the Philippines; Fisher's Island, New York; and Hawaii. Her earliest memories included a trip through the Panama Canal. When she was 8, she posed for a photo atop a mound of safety netting against the backdrop of the then-newly constructed Golden Gate Bridge. Her family lived in San Francisco at the Presidio Army post at the outbreak of World War II.

She cried the day she heard a radio announcement that President Franklin Roosevelt had died. She was a New Deal Democrat and faithful Christian who believed the notion of helping those in need was common to both.

Her family later moved to Salt Lake City, where she graduated from East High School in 1946. She then entered the St. Mark's Hospital School of Nursing.

She was close to graduation when a fellow nursing student fixed her up on a blind date with a handsome young navy veteran named Mack Donald Sullivan. They married five months later on Oct. 7, 1949.

Their daughter Sandra was born exactly one year later. Their son, Brett, came four years after that. They settled in a little house on Dupont Avenue in Salt Lake's Rose Park neighborhood, where they lived for a half century.

She worked in all parts of St. Mark's Hospital, including as the nursing coordinator for the newborn nursery. Outside of work and family, Mrs. Sullivan was a frequent volunteer. She was active in Girl Scouts of America, serving on the board of directors for the Utah Girl Scout Council and, at one time, as the coordinator for all cookie sales in Salt Lake County.

When her husband retired after a career in Air Force civil service, she joined him in the National Association of Retired Federal Employees. Both served as presidents of NARFE's Utah chapter. She was also active in the Nurse's Association of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

In their off time, she and her husband traveled extensively throughout the American west. They liked exploring historic sites, ghost towns, national and state parks.

In her later life, Mrs. Sullivan lived in Taylorsville and became an active congregant at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in West Valley City. She was on the church vestry and for a time served as the parish's warden.

She loved to cook, even if the recipe didn't always work out. She loved to sing, even if off-key. She was a people-pleaser. Those who knew her best describe her with words like affable, gregarious, amiable and – perhaps more than anything else – patient.

Survivors include her daughter, Sandra Blackwell of Murray; son, Brett Sullivan (Malinda), of Sarasota, Fla.; grandchildren Daniel A. Sullivan (Megan) Brandon, Fla. and Shannon K. Sullivan of Boston, Mass.; sister, Dorothy Sharpy, Glenwood Springs, Colo.; and numerous nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her husband, parents, sisters Hazel Myers (Edward), Mary Buckley (William), brothers George W. Allen (Dola) and Frederick E. Allen (Agnes).

Her family wishes to thank The Ridge Cottonwood and Bristol Hospice Utah for providing her care and comfort in her final years.

A memorial service will be held at 5 p.m. Friday, May 2, at St. Stephens Episcopal Church – 4615 South 3200 West, West Valley City – with a reception to follow. The service will be live streamed on Zoom at https://us05web.zoom.us/j/88293563502

In lieu of flowers, donations in her name may be made to the American Heart Association.