William Patrick Sullivan

William Patrick Sullivan died on May 19, 2026 in the peace of his home in Roseville, CA after a long illness. Bill was born on August 21, 1938 in Chickasha, OK to William and Frances Sullivan, both of whom predeceased him.  He was also predeceased by one brother, Tommy Sullivan, and two sisters, Kathleen Mrasek and Charlotte Brown.  He is survived by his wife, Billie Dell, and three daughters, Elizabeth (Frank) Pugliese, Katy (Rich) Orlando and Shannon. six grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, one brother, John (Juanita) Sullivan of Cincinnati, OH, brother- and sister-in-law, Robert and Linda McCabe of Santa Fe, NM  and many nieces and nephews.

Bill graduated from St. Joseph’s Academy in 1956 and attended St. Benedict’s College in Atchison, KS for two years.  He then transferred to Oklahoma State University.  Bill married his high school sweetheart, Billie Dell McCabe, at Holy Name Catholic Church on August 29, 1959. Following his graduation from OSU in 1960, they moved to Cumberland, MD where Bill began his career with Hercules Power Company as a Statistical Analyst. They remained in Cumberland until Bill joined The General Electric Company in the GE Apollo and Ground Systems Department in Nassau Bay, where he worked during the exciting years of the lunar landing program.  Being a part of the space program was a wonderful time in his career.  The Clear Lake City/Nassau Bay area south of Houston was a small area at the time and it was possible to catch a rare sighting of one of the astronauts.

Bill later transferred to Greenville, SC where he worked in the Large Gas Turbine Division.  Following the gas crisis of the 1970s, LGT was minimized to a much smaller group, headquartered in Schenectady, NY.  In 1975, not wanting to move to a  cold climate, he was invited to exercise his specialty, statistics, in the Nuclear Energy Division of  of General Electric Co., where he remained until his retirement in 1998.

Bill and Billie Dell loved to travel and they enjoyed trips to many countries.  Italy soon became their favorite and they made numerous trips to Italy, especially the areas of Tuscany. They had a condo in Arnold, CA and Bill loved spending time there fishing and enjoying the outdoors.  He loved going on the annual “guys’ camping trip” to Oregon for many years. Bill enjoyed  belonging to many men’s poker groups throughout the years.

Bill was an active parishioner at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in San Jose where he served the homeless and low-income people of the area.  After  he and Billie Dell moved to Roseville, CA in 2018, he continued this ministry until COVID restrictions forced a cessation of the volunteer work. For many years including his time in Roseville, CA he was a loyal attendee of the Men’s Faith Sharing Group.

The funeral service will be at St. Clare Catholic Church in Roseville, on Tuesday, June 16, 2026 at 10:00 am followed by a reception at the Morris Center next to the church.