Dan Sullivan

Married: Wife Kathy-29 years—March 28, 1981

Children: Ryan 28, Mark 27, Erin 25, and Leah 23.

Grandchild:  Sofie 3

Profession: Teacher, Coach; Princeville, IL 30 years (with a 7 year stint in Brimfield 1987-1994).

Born:  Tomahawk, WI, September 18, 1958

Raised:  South Milwaukee, WI

 

Professional Influences:  Jerry Sullivan, Tom Hawley, Ron Blomberg, Bill Spaltoltz, Harley Knosher, Tom Bruna, Chuck Rolinski, Richard Thinnes, and Bobby Anderson.

Education: 

South Milwaukee High School Class of 1976

Knox College, Galesburg, IL, BA Political Science 1980

Western Ill. University, Macomb, IL, MS Educational Administration 2003

Enjoys: 

Reading

Watching TV—Law and Order, The Office

Marathon Running—5 (3 Chicago and 2 Duluth)—Best time 3:31:47 (8:04 per mile)

Visiting the Community of St. John’s

Active in Peoria Cursillo

 

History:

 

I was born in the small town of Tomahawk, Wisconsin in north central Wisconsin.  My parents, Sandra and Jerry Sullivan moved to South Milwaukee, Wisconsin when I was two.  Dad grew up in Ashland, Wisconsin and mom grew up in many places, California and Northern Wisconsin being two of them.  Mom and dad met in Ashland at Northland College and were married on December 28, 1957.  I have three brothers, Tim, who is a fireman in Mesa, Arizona, Jeremy, who was a policeman in Milwaukee, WI and passed away in the summer of 2008, and Robbie who passed away in 1982.  Both I believe by the Grace of God are in heaven. 

 

My childhood was a happy one.  I lived at 1407 Marshall Avenue.  Our home was a half a block from Parkway Grade School.  I went to Parkway from Kindergarten to sixth grade.  I still remember all of my grade school teachers.  K-Ms. Voras, 1st-Ms. Nesbitt, 2nd-Ms. Gear, 3rd-Ms. Mills, 4th-Ms. Hester, 5th-Mr. Nicholson, 6th-Mr. Norm Shomish.  South Milwaukee Junior High was in the east part of town.  We went to seventh, eight and ninth grade there. I remember my social studies teacher Mr. Kujawa best, I also remember the PE teacher Mr. Bill Scherer.  I was active in sports although I was small.  I played football, basketball and tennis at SMJH.  I was on the “B” team for football and basketball.

 

Moving on to high school was an adventure as it is for most students.  The transition was easier for me as my dad was a teacher and coach at the high school.  There I played for him in football my sophomore year and basketball my junior and senior years.  We had very good sports teams winning championships and eventually winning the WIAA State Basketball Championship in 1976.  Sports and social studies were the focus of my life at this time.  My social life consisted of running around with my friends and playing basketball at Rawson or Zion Lutheran playground.  I was blessed with having great coaches and teachers.  The field house in South Milwaukee is named after my dad—Jerry Sullivan Field house and the football stadium is named for my football coach Mr. Bill Spaltholtz.  My teachers were knowledgeable and caring

 

I have always been interested in sports as a participant and a Packer, Bucks and Brewers fan.  I also like the Wisconsin Badgers.  You might be curious as to how I ended up in Central Illinois after being such a Cheese Head.  After going to Knox College, in Galesburg, IL every summer for basketball camp from age nine on, I went to Knox as a student in the fall of 1976.  I had four wonderful years there (five if you count the one after my graduation—finishing my teaching certification and waiting for Kathy O’Neill to finish her sophomore year).  I played basketball all four years, starting a game only on senior day.  My campus employment consisted of working in the library (archiving things), working in the music library, working in the dish room, and I was the statistician for three years for the football team coached by Joe Campanelli and two for the baseball team coached by Tim Heimann.   

 

I started teaching and coaching in the fall of 1980 at Costa Catholic School in Galesburg.  I was a student teacher of junior high social studies and the head football coach.  I coached the 7th and 8th grade team and the freshman team.  We won one game that season (a freshman game at Bushnell).  I loved teaching at Costa and learned much from Mary Norton, my supervising teacher.  Side note:  My team played a Saturday freshman football game in a small town called Princeville.  That Saturday night my girlfriend Kathy and I marveled at how small the town was and how the football field was in the middle of a corn field!

 

At the end of that fall I was going to volunteer at Knox to help with the basketball team.  I was offered a position as Junior High Basketball coach at Bushnell-Prairie City and loading dock assistant at Vaughn Bushnell Hammer Factory.  This seemed to go very well until I was let go at the hammer plant for failing a back x-ray.  Mr. McGinnes, the principal at BPC Jr. High, arranged a job for me at Norcross Steel Fabricating.  It was a dirty, noisy, smelly but fun job.  I was cutting 20’ pieces of steel into 3’ pieces.  I did this for eight hours a day, showered at Bushnell Prairie City Junior High, conducted basketball practice or coached a game and went home to my efficiency apartment in Galesburg—and did it all over again the next day.  I had a good season there working for Mr. Fred Theil (the eighth grade coach) and Neal Alexander (the varsity coach in Bushnell at the time). 

 

Basketball season ended in late January and I really did not see myself as a lifer at Norcross and wondered what I would do next.  Attending church one Saturday evening Sister Maureen principal of Costa asked me what I was doing—and would I be interested in a teaching position.  I said I was indeed interested and replaced a teacher who left for medical reasons.  I started my paid teaching career teaching sixth grade (self contained) in a room without windows to children who—I came to find out--had virtually driven the former teacher to her medical condition.

 

Well it could not have been better.  The kids came around.  We had a good relationship and I hope they learned as much as possible from a newbie.  The only drawback was payday.  I was paid $470.00 once a month.  As  spring emerged in 1981, Kathy and I decided to get married.  My students gave Kathy and me some cash and a recipe box with their mothers’ favorite recipes inside.  As our rent was $250.00 and monthly pay $470.00.  I figured I might have to move to public education if Kathy and I were to have a family.  A job came open in South Milwaukee so I applied and was hired.  Leaving Costa was bitter/sweet as it was a fun place to teach and the people were very nice.

 

Kathy and I moved all of our belongings to South Milwaukee as Kathy took summer classes and I worked another summer for the Milwaukee Bucks Basketball Camps.  I looked forward to teaching in the district where I grew and learned.  The summer in Milwaukee went fine.  I was off working for the Milwaukee Bucks Camps and Kathy was attending Cardinal Stritch College.  She seemed very tired that summer and got to know my brothers Jeremy and Robbie. 

 

My teaching position at South Milwaukee Junior High was never finalized with a contract signing.  I really had no doubts about my employment and that turned out to be a mistake.  At the end of the summer as I was working a girls’ basketball camp in Galesburg I was called by my mom.  She said a registered letter was awaiting me at the post office.  Because of dad’s employment at SMHS she knew what the letter was.  I was laid off.  A teacher reduction had been grieved to the board of education in South Milwaukee and when it all got sorted out I was the last hired and was the person to be let go.  I called Kathy with the news (she was in Wilmette) and she proceeded to tell me that she had been to the doctor that day and was pregnant with our first baby. 

 

Needless to say I was devastated.  My buddy Dave Workman comforted me by saying, “20 years from now we’ll be laughing about this” and my coach, Harley Knosher said, “Well, we just have to get you a job by the end of this week.”

 

In fact I was offered two jobs that week.  The first offer came after an interview at Lake Forest High School.  The job would be monitoring the library and coaching.  It would be an hourly position.  When I called the placement office at Knox they were surprised that I was looking work.  They told me if they had known that they would have contacted me about a position in Princeville that had recently opened up.  When I told coach Knosher about this he said he knew people in Princeville and if I wanted to teach and coach there I would have a good chance at the position.  After the interview in Lake Forest, Kathy and I came back to Galesburg and prepared for the interview in Princeville.

 

Now earlier I mentioned that I had been to Princeville before to coach a freshmen football game.  Kathy came to watch that game—so we were anxious to say the least.  When we arrived at the High School there was much road construction in the front of the building as curbs and gutters had just been added.  I went into the building and introduced myself to Gary Sterr my future principal.  Kathy went to the teachers’ lounge and met Carter Ness and I proceeded to the interview.  I remember being interviewed by Bill Banks, Gary Sterr, Tom Bruna, and Jim Yauornik.  There was probably a board member there but I do not remember.  The interview went well in fact at the end they handed me a typed contract to sign.  I asked if I could check with my wife and they brought Kathy down to the Board Room.  We had a few questions and they were answered—and I signed!  On the way back to Galesburg I heard Kathy quietly crying and asked what was wrong—she said, “what the heck am I going to do in Princeville?”

 

A few days later we packed our things and moved out of my parents’ house to Princeville with nowhere to live or stay.  I did however remember Jim Yauornik saying, “people here will help you but you have to ask.”  When we arrived we found no hotel/motel and had no idea where we were or what to do.  I called coach Yauornik and he took us into his home until we found a small house to rent.  Kathy and I were prepared to spend a couple years in Princeville and move back to the suburbs of Milwaukee or Chicago.  Little did we know this would be our home for the next 25-30 years.  The place we would raise our children and welcome our first grandchild Sofie Sullivan.