Nancy Louise Salisbury Sullivan's Obituary
Nancy Salisbury Sullivan, beloved Mother, Grandmother, Auntie and friend, passed away at home on October 14, 2015. Preceded in death by her loving husband Bill “Sully” Sullivan, parents Earl Fremont Salisbury and Wina Jean McLennan Salisbury, sisters June Lease and Carol Perkins, and brother Guy Fremont Salisbury. Survived by children Susan Jackson and husband Jorge, Jennifer Sullivan and husband Nick Flores, Colleen Taylor and husband Rob, and Barry Sullivan and wife Shannon, and grandchildren Gabriela and Tristana Flores, Caitlin and Kimberly Taylor, Justin Sullivan and wife Arila, and Allison and Abigail Sullivan. She is also survived by dear friend Faye Hardin, sisters-in-law Cornelia Garrison and Louise Thorp, Louise’s husband Murph, and by many beloved Salisbury and Sullivan nieces and nephews. Nancy was born April 30, 1923 in Monterrey, Mexico, the fourth child of Earl and Jean Salisbury. Earl was a mining engineer who had made his way to Mexico from Michigan in 1906 to work in the Mexican silver mining industry. In 1912 Nancy’s father Earl married Jean McLennan, a childhood friend from Michigan, and the family’s adventures in Mexico began. Living in mining camps and rural areas of Mexico, as well as in beautiful cities such as Taxco, Mexico City, and Monterrey, Nancy’s love of the Mexican culture and the Spanish language was born and continued all of her life. In 1932 as the Great Depression took hold, Nancy’s family sold all their possessions and moved to beautiful Alpine, Texas, where Nancy’s dad took a job in the quicksilver mines at Study Butte. This was initially a difficult adjustment for Nancy, who considered Spanish her first language, and for all of the siblings, who had grown up in the European-like culture of Mexico of the time, as they dressed and talked differently from the ranching culture of west Texas. Nancy’s dad moved back to Mexico after a couple of years to take other mining jobs, but the children stayed in Alpine, and Nancy graduated from Alpine High School in 1940. Nancy went on to Mary Hardin Baylor University in Belton, Texas, where she made many life- long friends and which always remained dear to her heart. In the 1940s, she taught school in Conway, Arkansas and the Rio Grande Valley, and later earned her Master’s degree in English from UT Austin. In 1951 she met Bill (“Sully”) Sullivan, a handsome young naval officer and electrical engineer from Kerrville, Texas, and they married in Monterrey, Mexico, in 1953. Nancy and Bill moved to Richardson, Texas, in 1959 where Bill worked for Collins Radio and later MCI Communications. Nancy was a woman of tremendous faith and spirituality, of unconditional love for all people, a force of nature who loved life and all of its diversity. She loved walking in Cottonwood Park and meeting and making friends with people of all backgrounds and cultures. She loved speaking Spanish to anyone who would speak it with her. She was eternally youthful in spirit and intellectually curious. She had a passion for nature and was an early environmentalist, helping to found Richardson’s recycling program with her involvement with REAL, the Richardson Environmental Action League. Nancy was a long-time and active member of First Presbyterian Church of Richardson, Texas, where she taught Sunday school, Bible study class and ESL for many years and had many close friends. Nancy loved music. Growing up in rural Mexico, Nancy and her siblings June, Carol and Guy learned to entertain themselves by singing and harmonizing acapella for hours on end. Nancy’s love of music continued all her life, as evidenced by her bumper sticker “SING LOUD, It’s a big world!” and her long time participation in the Praise Singers Choir of First Baptist Church of Garland. Family will receive friends on Friday, October 23, 2015 from 4 – 7 pm, at the Memorial Chapel at Restland Funeral Home. A Memorial Service to celebrate Nancy’s life will be held on Saturday, October 24, 2015, at 1 pm at First Presbyterian Church of Richardson, 271 Walton Street, Richardson. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75243. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church of Richardson, The Nature Conservancy of Texas, The Presbyterian Pan American School of Kingsville, Texas, or the Nancy Salisbury Sullivan Endowed Scholarship at Mary Hardin Baylor University.
What’s your fondest memory of Nancy?
What’s a lesson you learned from Nancy?
Share a story where Nancy's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Nancy you’ll never forget.
How did Nancy make you smile?