Eileen Agnes Sullivan

Eileen Agnes Sullivan, known affectionately by her siblings as “Lee,” was born Oct. 4, 1925 in Brooklyn, N.Y. and passed away Feb. 9, 2014 in Green Cove Springs with her family by her side. She was the daughter of Bridget O’Sullivan and Daniel Sullivan, one of five siblings, and was preceded in death by three brothers: Raymond, Gerard and Charles, and a sister, Genevieve. They grew up on their family farm in upstate Middletown, N.Y.

Eileen met her husband, Joseph Aloysius Judd, Jr., a WW II US Army Corps veteran and Prison of War, at the local USO Center in New York City. She attained her designation as a Registered Nurse in 1949 from the School of Nursing at the Long Island College Hospital and worked at the Flower Fifth Avenue Hospital. She attended Hunter College in New York City, and in 1953 attained a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, and was enrolled in medical school for several years, but withdrew upon the birth of her daughter in 1956.

She moved to Miami Shores, Fla., in the early 1960s. She remarried and the family moved to California. She pursued a Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1967. The family moved to Gainesville, Fla., in 1968. She attained a Doctor of Philosophy in Irish Literature at the University of Florida in 1969, and became a professor. Dr. Sullivan’s last career was that of Cabinet Affairs Director at the former Florida Department of Natural Resources in Tallahassee from which she retired in 1990.

She was active in the local and state Democratic Party and launched a gubernatorial campaign in 1978. In her early years at the University of Florida, she was a founding member of the University Professors for Academic Order (UPAO). She was also a nominee for the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame in 1984 hosted by former Governor Bob Graham.

Eileen loved gardening and touring abroad with her granddaughter, Tara. Most of all Eileen loved Irish folklore and literature and travelled extensively to Ireland where her cousins reside to this day.

She is survived by her daughter, Danielle JoAnne Judd of Green Cove Springs, Fla., a granddaughter, Tara Lee Malone of Alachua, Fla., three great grandchildren: Tony Dewayne Henderson, Jr., U.S. Marine Corps, Jacksonville, N.C., Catherine Danielle Henderson and Aidan Michael Henderson both of Alachua.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations may be given to the North Central Florida Alzheimer’s Association Chapter in her memory. Special thanks are extended to her primary care physician, specializing in geriatrics, Dr. Sherif El-Salawy and Ms. Cheryl Robinson, LCSW for their support to Danielle over the years.

Arrangements are under the direction of Evans-Carter Funeral Home in High Springs, Fla. Services will be held at St. Madeleine Catholic Church, High Springs, on Friday, Feb. 14, 2014 at 10:30 a.m. followed immediately by a luncheon reception in the church fellowship hall.