Alex and Nell (Madigan) Sullivan

Alex and Nell (Madigan) Sullivan
Alex and Nell (Madigan) Sullivan in backyard of 18 N. Latrobe, Chicago, Illinois c1937

About Alex Sullivan and Nell Madigan

About Alex Sullivan and Nell Madigan

Alexander Aloysius Sullivan was born on March 24, 1880 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the seventh of ten children born to Philip J. Sullivan (1840-1915) and Ellen Connor (1848-1919). Ellen "Nell" Theresa Madigan was also born in Chicago, the second of seven children born to Patrick Madigan (c1850-1890) and Bridget "Bessie" Thompson (1855-1935). They married at St. Agatha's Catholic Church on August 20, 1907. They raised two children, Thomas Aloysius born July 7, 1908 (See also Sullivan/Carmody Blog) and Helen Mae born March 11, 1914 (See also McIntyre/Sullivan Blog), on the west side of Chicago. Alex, or "Al" as Nell called him, was a steamfitter his whole life. Al worked for Mehring and Hanson located at Jefferson and Randolph in Chicago. Mehring and Hanson eventually became Hill Mechanical which is still in business in Chicago today. Nell raised the two children and was a homemaker her entire life. Al was almost six feet tall, which for his time was quite tall. Nell, on the other hand, was only about five-feet-two inches and in her older years much shorter than that! Al and Nell both died at their home located at 18 North Latrobe in Chicago, Al on January 26, 1956 and Nell, ten years later, on January 21, 1966.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Alex Sullivan, Death Certificate, 1956

Alexander A. Sullivan died on January 26, 1956. He had arteriosclerosis for several years before his death. I remember his legs would fill with water and look very swollen. I was told this was because his heart was not beating properly and therefore not removing extra fluid from his body. Dr. Fitzgerald signed the death certificate. He was the family doctor.

When Al died, he had been retired for several years. For almost all of his working life he had been a steamfitter.  A steamfitter is one who installs and repairs heating, ventilating, refrigeration, and air-conditioning systems.  As early as 1908, on his son's birth certificate, his occupation is listed as steamfitter.

Al was waked for two days at the Hursen Funeral Home located at 5911 West Madison Street, about seven blocks away from his home on Latrobe Avenue.  It was the funeral home the family normally used.  He was buried at Queen of Heaven Cemetery on January 30, 1956 after a funeral mass at St. Thomas Aquinas church, his parish for nearly 50 years. His son, Thomas Sullivan, was the informant on Al's death certificate.

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