Godfrey R. Sullivan, Sr.

Godfrey R. Sullivan, Sr., 97 years young, passed away on July 9, 2018, at Baylor Scott and White Hospital in Austin, in the company of his wife, Viola Sullivan. Graveside services will be 3:00 p.m., Friday, July 13, at Moore Cemetery in Chalk Bluff, Texas, with the Rev. Aaron Zimmerman of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church officiating. Godfrey had a full and fascinating life. He was born in Lawrence, Kansas, and grew up working on his grandfather’s oil rigs. As the son of an early executive of General Motors, he moved constantly through the U.S., living in Lawrence, Dallas, Detroit and Los Angeles. At age 17, he joined the US Navy and served for 10 years as a Chief Petty Officer on PBY sub-chasers. He was the sole survivor of one airplane crash in Hawaii, and one of two survivors of a PBY crash in the Panama Bay. He served in Hawaii at the time of Pearl Harbor, and was stationed throughout the South Pacific for the duration of the war. During a trip home to Highland Park, he met the lady of his dreams, Viola W. Jensen, and they married in 1943. At the end of WWII, he returned home and graduated from Baylor University Law School. He practiced law in Waco for thirty years, and was active in the Fidelis Masonic Lodge. Godfrey loved his family, their farm, and their Quarter Horses. He was a long-term member of St. Alban’s Church in Waco. Godfrey was preceded in death by his daughter, Augusta Sullivan James. Survivors include his loving wife, Viola Sullivan; his daughter, Meredith Perkins and husband, Wesley, grandsons, Ross, Scott and Donovan Perkins, as well as seven great grandchildren; and his son, Godfrey R. Sullivan, Jr., and wife, Suzanne, and daughters, Hayley and Shea Sullivan. Contributions in memorial may be made to St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Waco. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our “Tribute Wall” at www.WHBfamily.com.