Barbara Anne Sullivan was a fan of the arts. "She took great joy in her home and had a distinctive flair for design," her family said. An enthusiastic reader, she "surrounded herself with beautiful books" and also enjoyed spending time in her garden in Montauk. But "most of all," her family wrote, "she loved traveling and living all over the world with her husband of 64 years, Jim."
Mrs. Sullivan, who was 88, died on Aug. 17 after a long-term illness.
She had served for many years as the treasurer of the Montauk Historical Society. She was involved with the preservation of the Montauk Lighthouse, including the creation of the Richard T. Gilmartin Room in honor of her father, and took part in the establishment of the Montauk Library. She worked in the Lighthouse gift shop and at the historical society's craft fairs at Second House.
A regular bridge player, she was a founding member of the Montauk Bridge Club, which held games in the library for many years.
Mrs. Sullivan was born in Southampton on Aug. 27, 1933, to Richard T. Gilmartin and the former Winifred O'Brien. She grew up partly in Yaphank at the Suffolk County Farm, while her father worked as the Suffolk County commissioner of welfare in the 1940s. He became East Hampton Town supervisor in 1958.
She earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from the College of Nursing in Plattsburgh, N.Y.
She and James T. Sullivan were married on May 31, 1958, and had three daughters. He survives, as do their children, Sally O'Connor of Montauk, Susan Carbonara of Keene, N.H., and Elisabeth Sullivan of Kernersville, N.C. She also leaves eight grandchildren and a brother, Richard T. Gilmartin Jr. of Denver.
A service was held on Monday at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk, the Rev. Liam McDonald officiating. Mrs. Sullivan was buried at Most Holy Trinity Cemetery in East Hampton.
Donations in her memory have been suggested to the Montauk Library at montauklibrary.org.
