November 26 1951 June 23 2019
Rae’s Obituary Rae Sullivan was born the third daughter of Arthur and Norma (nee Dymond) Sullivan on November 26, 1951. She was soon surrounded by five siblings, Arthur, Jr., Mary (John Bryk), Nora (Dave Koehler), Theresa (David Schramm), and Daniel (Terri). To her everlasting disappointment, she had brown eyes, though when the song Brown Eyed Girl came on, she would dance her heart out. She thought her hair was her best feature, but anyone who knew her would say it was her smile. The greatest compliment she could pay you was to look at you with her lips closed, a smile on her face, her leg bouncing, and a little head shake as if to say “Gosh, you’re a great kid.” She loved to share stories of her childhood with her nieces, and particularly recalls the May Crowning procession. She was among the few First Communicants chosen to bring flowers to Mary while wearing her white gown and gloves. When the procession stopped, to her surprise, her father was seated right next to where she stood. She vividly recalled how proud he was of her in that moment. She was a beautiful little girl, but didn’t hear it enough to believe it. This profoundly impacted her self-image, and she made sure to let each of the children she loved know how special and beautiful they were. Many people lament how girls in her time were only permitted to become teachers, secretaries, or nurses. People rarely stop to think what a gift that was to these professions. Today, Rae would have channeled her passion for American History and gift for writing into a PhD in History. Instead, she brought her sharp logical mind, faculty for details, and stellar sense of humor to the only career she considered: nursing. This is where Rae’s gifts shone most brightly to the world outside of her family. She worked as a floor nurse for many years, leaving home to travel to California. She became desperately homesick, and her mother, whom she never felt understood her, was there for her. “She didn’t say “I told you so.” She just came out and got me, and we drove back to Ohio, and I give her a lot of credit for that,” she would say. She stayed close to home for almost a full decade, when she became a travelling nurse, first to Portland, Maine, then to Portland, Oregon. In Oregon, she worked at St. Vincent and Emmanuel, but her work at Providence in the Heart Failure and Transplant Clinic is where she was allowed to shine. As the nurse coordinator, she was able to care for critically ill heart patients with cutting edge technology that extended their lives as they waited for transplant, and then during and after transplant. She served as regional transplant coordinator for a time as well. In this role, Rae became the heart behind the medical lifeline for these patients and for many of her coworkers as well. While we can think about what might have been had Rae been able to pursue her lifelong passion for history as a career, we can say for certain that the lives of countless patients were changed by Rae’s excellent bedside manner, clinical brilliance, and attention to detail. That might sound like bragging, but it is deserved. She was sensational in that clinic, in surgery, and in those patients lives. She often shared stories of her dear friends and co-workers Wayne and Kelly, the docs, and her many patients with her family. The ways she made an impact through her career could fill a book. But her impressive career was secondary in achievement to the family she gave her heart to. You couldn’t know Rae unless you knew her by her most important name, Auntie Rae. When a woman goes her whole life and never marries or has children, the world laments it as a tragedy. In some ways, for Auntie Rae, it was, as she dearly wanted to be a wife and mother. Any lost dream can be a kind of tragedy. But it was just one part of her life, and she didn’t let that stop her from loving her family well. Auntie Rae showed up, she paid attention to her siblings and their children, gave them silly nicknames, and never turned down a long-distance phone call from a talkative 8-year-old, even when it was pay-by-the-minute. With her first paycheck, she took her little brother Danny to Disney World. That’s who she was. There was no good thing she had that she wouldn’t share with a child. Her home was filled with treasures: tiny tchotchkes of deer and turtles and dogs and miniature tea sets. Visits to Auntie Rae were filled with fashion shows, bubble baths, and Kraft macaroni and cheese candlelight dinners. Bedtime was accompanied by Tchaikovsky on the record player she had moved into her bedroom (she would sleep on the couch when the kids were over), so we could imagine ballerinas dancing down the hallways of a castle. Some could focus on the sorrow that she never shared these joyful moments with her own children, but we are so grateful she shared them with us. After she left for Portland, the children she left behind couldn’t understand the loss of their special Auntie. Jackie, her niece, sent a bag of coins in the mail to pay for a ticket home for her. The mailman kindly returned the coins. Auntie Rae didn’t know she was allowed to stay and love us and that would be enough for everyone. She had to make something of herself out there, and maybe make a family of her own. She was gone for almost 30 years, punctuated by a hundred visits home. She walked five of her nieces down the aisle at their weddings, not as a consolation prize, but in honor of the special relationship she had, particularly in her sister Mary’s daughter’s lives as they entered adulthood. When her first great niece was born, she cried when she learned her name was Caroline Rae. Her great niece who was born just this year, Emely Margaret Rae, also owes her name to this remarkable woman. In 14 years, 13 more great nieces and nephews learned how much they were loved by their Auntie Rae. She saw no difference between the kids who were adopted and those born into her family. Every child was worthy of her love, which she found commonplace and not remarkable. Her great niece Danielle is profoundly autistic and was born with Down syndrome in Ukraine, but there were simply no limits to her expectations and joy in her little Dani-girl. For a woman who gave so much, there were constant companions who filled her home with love every day. Jay-Jay, a beautiful collie, had such a pleasant temperament that children used him as a pony. One time he started putting on weight, she found out he had been visiting the bakery across the street, where the ladies had been giving him crème stick doughnuts every morning. After Jay died, she thought she couldn’t have a dog again. One day after she moved to Oregon, a coworker needed to find a home for a timid collie-shepherd mix. Belle, named after her favorite Disney character, became the best friend she didn’t know she needed. Belle and Auntie Rae could play hide and seek with her favorite toys and Belle could retrieve the toys by name. Auntie Rae had that special way with animals, to unlock their ability hidden under a sad past. Emma the sheltie came before Belle passed away, and kept Auntie Rae’s heart from breaking. Soon Callie, a neglected rescue collie came. A patient needed to find a home for Molly, a long-haired Chihuahua, and Auntie Rae had a little pack of three quite quickly. After she moved back to Cleveland at her retirement in 2014, Balto the maltese joined her crew. Rae enrolled Emma and then Balto into courses to become therapy dogs. After a brief time at her niece’s pediatric dental practice, Emma passed away. Balto continues to work at the practice, and will be lovingly cared for by niece Jen’s father in law. Callie will be heading home with Rae’s niece Jaime on her farm. Molly will be loved by Rae’s sister Mary. Emma and Belle’s remains will be buried alongside Rae, as was her wish. Rae’s life was stolen from the world much too soon by cancer. She had just started living the next, best part of life surrounded by the children she had helped raise and their children who loved her even more than their moms did. And now those left behind find that we are lost without her. She was our anchor and our friend. A mentor and confidante. This cruel disease has left her great nieces and nephews without their tea party concierge, cheerleader, Pride and Prejudice expert, swim buddy, dog-lover, memorizer of birthdates, story-reader, pancake maker, doughnut connoisseur, intense listener of childhood dramas, and the keeper of secrets. She leaves the memory of her love in the aching hearts of her great nieces and nephews, Caroline, John, Alexander, Thomas, Chris, Lizzie, Ben, Henry, Dani, Sammy, Cate, Mari, Bridgey, Emely, Simon, and a sweet little one arriving soon who will hear all about his Auntie Rae. Her nieces Jennifer, Jackie, Jaime, Jodie, and Josie got to experience the joy of her guidance and friendship first as children and then as adults. Her nephews-in-law each shared a special relationship with her as well, Adam Hechko, Brian Welch, Britt Vanchura, Chip Fox, and Jimmy Rose. Rae was able to reconnect with her sisters Nora and Theresa at the end of her illness. They shared many good times together. While she had lost touch with them, her nephews Peter, Jacob, and Andrew Schramm and Wes Meadows, and nieces Kate, Maggie, and Lilly Koehler held a special place in her heart. She loved tracing her family genealogy online and interviewed family members to hold onto the family history. She hopes her research will continue with her great-nieces and nephews. Through it all, after they entered adulthood, her oldest sister Mary was her best friend. The love they shared, the stories they could tell, and the storms they weathered together deserve more words than to which these few sentences could do justice. As retirees, they most enjoyed going on cruises on the Royal Caribbean together. But, yes, everyone does vacation well. What is rare to find is the deep bond they shared only as adults. Their childhood seemed so different, one from the other, even though they were only four years apart in age. While they were both trained as nurses, Mary became a married mom to five girls and most of her career was spent managing for her family businesses. Rae remained single and continued her career in nursing at the highest levels. And yet, their shared passion for history, for politics, for raising confident children by letting them know how smart and beautiful they were every day, created the basis for a friendship that is a special gift sometimes shared by sisters. Mary remembers the day Rae came home from the hospital, how their mom had to watch her closely because she kept trying to pick up the baby. And at the end, Mary cared for Rae’s every need, and was holding her hand at the moment she fell into her Savior’s arms. Auntie Rae was a practicing Catholic, and we believe in the promise of everlasting life for her. She had a special devotion to Mary, whom she referred to affectionately as The Blessed Virgin. She leaves us to triumphant shouts of joy at her arrival in heaven, preceded in death by her parents Arthur and Norma, brothers Arthur and Daniel, and nephews Michael Sullivan and Patrick Bryk. Though Patrick lived for just a day, his life had a profound impact on Rae’s love for children and nursing, especially in honoring the family over rules when necessary. She is holding him at last. In lieu of flowers, spend an hour on the phone every week with a child who needs you, even if their stories don’t make any sense. Adopt a dog that nobody has a place for. Get out there and dance. Treat your adopted relative as a found treasure. Tell stories that end with “I was so embarrassed!” Make the pancakes. Become an organ donor. Get on a plane and just show up. Because that was the beauty of the love that defined our Auntie Rae. Donations can be made to Donate Life Northwest, www.donatelifenw.org/ , PO Box 532 Portland, OR 97207, where you can also sign up to become an organ donor. Her funeral mass will be celebrated with Fr. John Mulhollan presiding. St. Basil the Great in Brecksville, OH, 10 AM Saturday, Jul 6, 2019. Interment will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery. A light luncheon will follow. Children are welcome, wiggles and all. Stories about Rae may be emailed to openhandsacres@gmail.com for those who are unable to attend. They will be compiled in a book for her great nieces and nephews. Please contact that email for a physical mailing address. Read More
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Rae Ann Sullivan November 26 1951 June 23 2019.
Death notice for the town of: Cleveland, state: Ohio