Yvonne L. Sullivan

Yvonne L. Sullivan
March 23, 1939 – January 7, 2021

Yvonne Leona Sullivan passed peacefully at Parsons House Assisted Living & Memory Care on January 7, 2021. She was born in the country of Aruba (Dutch, West Indies) on March 23, 1939 to John ‘Leo’ and Beatrice DeAbreu and was one of eight children.  On January 17, 1970, she married Dennis Sullivan (who preceded her in death on January 25, 2013).

Yvonne became a U.S. citizen after immigrating to the United States in 1940 and grew up in The Bronx, New York with her siblings Frank, Eugenia, Royal Leo, Nello, John Warren, Xenia, and Leonard. She spent her High School years in California, graduating from Canoga Park High School.

After High School, she returned to New York where she started a family and began raising her eldest four children – Diane, Rick, Chris, and David.  She moved to Omaha, NE as a single mother, where she worked hard to make ends meet and persevered through many jobs – including secretarial jobs, in-home babysitting, and bartending.  While waitressing at the Brown Derby in South Omaha, she met Dennis, the love of her live. After their eventual marriage, they had two additional children – Lisa and John.

Yvonne loved children and dedicated as much time as possible to her children and grandchildren.  She also spent many years running an in-home daycare, where she positively impacted countless young people.  Yvonne enjoyed cooking for the family, with her specialties being Chicken Curry and Lasagna with Meatballs. At Christmas-time, her homemade fudge was divine.  Spending time with her family was always precious, and she and Dennis took their children and grandchildren on many family vacations – with most involving loading up a station wagon. In her later years, her travel highlights included her birth country of Aruba and her ancestral country of Portugal.

Music was an important part of her life. As she raised her children, she sang quaint songs about the Little Blue Man or the Butcher Boy’s Girl, and her favorite for little children was “Wind Wind Sugar Baby”.  In her later years, as she battled dementia, music remained a calming influence with “You Are My Sunshine” being her personal favorite.

She was an avid ‘garage-saler’, so Yvonne spent many Saturday mornings visiting neighborhood homes looking for bargains for her family. She also saw these sales as a business opportunity; using an entrepreneurial spirit, she often bought items that she felt were underpriced and flipped them for a profit at her own annual garage sale. In addition to the in-home daycare, other career pursuits included time working as a Real Estate Agent, as an Executive Assistant in Financial Services, and since she was a person of strong Catholic faith, she was most proud of her time working in the Chancery Office of the Omaha Archdiocese. A member of St. Pius X parish, her faith was evident throughout her home, with her paintings, statues, and rosaries proudly on display.

Yvonne is survived by her children Diane Collins, Rick (Victoria) Sullivan, Chris (Barb) Sullivan, David Sullivan, Lisa Caputo, and John (Staci) Sullivan; grandchildren: Shannon (Paul) Webb, Sarah (Jon) Kimbrough, Maggie Sullivan (John Solis), Cassie (Mike) Aguilar, Nicole (Heath) Smith, Lauren Sullivan, TJ Collins (Rebecca Swanda), Gianna Caputo, Ava Caputo, Dominic Caputo, Denni Sullivan, Brock Sullivan, and Megan Whalen; great-grandchildren Haven Smith, Kendal Smith, Loretta Kimbrough, and Harper Collins. She was preceded in death by her husband Dennis and grandchildren Erica Sullivan and Amanda Sullivan.

The family would like to express their heartfelt appreciation to the Parsons House staff for the loving attention and kindness they gave to Yvonne.

VIGIL SERVICE: Monday, January 11, 2021 at 9am, followed by 10:30am MASS OF CHRISTIAN BURIAL, all at St. Pius X Catholic Church.  Interment: Resurrection Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to Alzheimer’s Association.

To view live broadcasts of the Services, go to www.heafeyheafey.com and click the “View Live Service” button on the home page.