John Sullivan Obituary

NORTH FALMOUTH - John H. ''Jack” Sullivan Jr., 90, formerly of Quincy and Boston, died on Thursday, April 19, 2007.

He was the beloved husband of nearly 64 years of Myrtle L. (Coughlin) Sullivan; devoted father of the late John H. Sullivan III, Marie-Christine Sullivan, Jill Sullivan Gabbe and James I. Gabbe, Michael L. Sullivan and Paula T. Sullivan; loving grandfather of Benjamin A. Gabbe, Patrick R. Sullivan and Bridget C. Gabbe; and caring brother of Elizabeth Fagan, Paul Sullivan and the late Ruth Kennedy.

He was a graduate of Boston College High School and Boston College, class of 1939, where he was president of his class and a manager of such big bands as Count Basie and Duke Ellington. He served in the Army at Fort Custer, Mich., the Merchant Marines in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, N.Y., and as chief petty officer on several Army Hospital Ships, including the Louis A. Milne. He completed his military career as port agent for the Boston Port Authority at Embarkation during World War II.

He founded Renaissance Foods, the largest wholesale grocery company in New England in the 1950s and '60s, and co-founded Charley's Eating & Drinking Saloons, a restaurant chain credited with helping to revitalize the high end of Newbury Street by Massachusetts Avenue in the early 1970s.

Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend visiting hours on Monday, April 23, 2007, from 4 to 8 p.m., at Chapman Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, 584 West Falmouth Highway (Route 28A), West Falmouth. A funeral Mass will be held at St. Elizabeth Seton Church, 481 Quaker Road, North Falmouth, Tuesday, April 24, 2007, at 11 a.m. Burial will follow in North Falmouth Cemetery.

Donations in memory of John H. Sullivan may be made to Hospice & Palliative Care of Cape Cod, 270 Communication Way, Hyannis, MA 02601.

For online obituary, directions and guestbook, visit www.ccgfuneralhome.com.