Sully Pelletieri
Fortune-Keough Funeral HomeBorn: June 25, 1922
Died: March 20, 2019
Married: Vincent Pelletieri
Children: Winifred, Elias, Philip, Vincent, Mary Agnes
Elizabeth Rita Sullivan Pelletieri, also known as “Sully,” was a daughter of Philip B. Sullivan, of 44 Neil Street. She was born on her parents' Rock Street farm in Bloomingdale in 1922. At age five the family moved to Saranac Lake where she enjoyed skiing on French Hill and was a school-girl friend at St. Bernard’s of Connie Keane, who later became the film star Veronica Lake. A challenging Saranac Lake High School "classical arts" program of Latin, French, Biology and math, and support from her father, prepared Sully to attend Albany Business College.
Following college Sully worked for Northland Auto, where she did the bookkeeping for the construction of the North Pole in Wilmington, and then worked as a nursing assistant and camp cook on Upper St. Regis Lake at the John Trevor Camp, where she celebrated her 80th birthday. An excellent seamstress, Sully was an active part of her large family, sewing the costumes for the elaborate Home Energy Float in the 2014 Winter Carnival Parade. Sully enjoyed happy hour at Will Rogers and was occasionally found enjoying a glass of wine at Romano's.
Sully Pelletieri
courtesy of Aggie PelletieriKirk Peterson conducted an oral history with Sully Pelletieri for Historic Saranac Lake in 2015.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, March 26, 2019
Elizabeth "Sully" Pelletieri
Elizabeth Pelletieri of Saranac Lake died Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at Elderwood in Lake Placid. She was 96.
Known widely as “Sully,” she was born Elizabeth Rita Sullivan on June 25, 1922, in Bloomingdale to Winifred (nee Howard) and Philip Sullivan, the eldest child of eight.
From the age of 5, Sully grew up in Saranac Lake. At St. Bernard’s School, she was a schoolgirl friend of Connie Keane, who became the film star Veronica Lake.
Sully Pelletieri
Fortune-Keough Funeral HomeSee Sully’s photo in the 1939 Canaras: Varsity Club, French Club, Basketball (four years!) Volley Ball, Soccer, Bat Ball, Our Book, and Baseball. She enjoyed skiing on French Hill! Her father was a respected and successful plumber who believed in an education for all his children. Sully graduated from Albany Business College, and after working in Westport for several months, she went to work for Robert Reiss at Northland Auto on Broadway, where the Adult Center is today. Northland was an Oldsmobile dealer, and Sully became the manager. Among other things, she did the bookkeeping for the construction of the North Pole in Wilmington. She continued to work at Northland until the birth of her first child. As a young woman, Sully enjoyed spending time on Lower Saranac with her friends Elsie, Gen and Kate, and driving around with them in her own car. Sully liked to drive, and she received her first and only ticket at the age of 78. She grudgingly gave up her license at the age of 89.
After the war, Sully met Vincent Pelletieri. They married in 1954. When Vinnie left the partnership at the Belvedere to purchase Mark’s Bar and Grill in 1962, Sully’s business knowledge and experience were a big help in the new family enterprise, a job she continued for 25 years.
Sully was the proud mother of five children: Winifred, Elias, Philip, Vincent and Mary Agnes. They all followed in her footsteps at St. Bernard’s School. She often loaded the kids into the big wagon, along with friends and cousins, to go to an Expos game in Montreal. Round Lake was another favorite destination. After the Expos left Montreal, Sully became a Red Sox fan.
She was a charter member of the Ladies of the Moose. She enjoyed going to Chataeugay Lake with Joan and Don Branch. Sully and Vinnie had wonderful trips to Hawaii with her sister Winifred and her husband Bert Yorkey. She celebrated her 80th birthday as the cook at the John Trevor Camp on Upper St. Regis. Sully also worked several years at Uihlein. An excellent seamstress, Sully made clothes and costumes, notably many outfits for the elaborate HomEnergy floats in the Winter Carnival Parade. She rode the dragon float in the “Celtic Carnival” parade of 2014. Dr. George Cook was a great friend to Sully, and she was his longest-term patient, although she was rarely sick and was hospitalized for the first time in 2011. Her joke with George was that she felt 65 until the age of 88. Up until recently, Sully could be seen at the Bel enjoying lunch with Joan Branch and Lori Rumble. She spent a lot of time with family and friends last summer at her beloved Kiwassa camp, which her father built himself 62 years ago.
Sully attended many funerals in her lifetime, including those of her parents; her brothers John and his wife Theresa; brothers Robert, Peter and Philip; and her sisters Margaret and her husband John Campion; and Winifred and her husband Bert Yorkey; and her husband Vinnie, to whom she was married for 59 years. She is lovingly remembered by her sister Ann Loftis, sister-in-law Agatha (Peter) Sullivan, children Winifred Pelletieri and her husband Jim Catania, Elias Pelletieri and his wife Tammy, Philip Pelletieri and his wife Mary Beth, Vincent Pelletieri Jr., and Mary Agnes Pelletieri and her husband Dan Reilly. Her grandchildren were her special love, including Maria, Hannah, Nikolas, Zoe, Zane and Biancha. Sully got to say goodbye to her great granddaughter Annie Elizabeth. She was loved by her many nieces and nephews.
Calling hours will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, March 29 at Fortune-Keough Funeral Home in Saranac Lake. A Mass of Christian burial will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 30, at St. Bernard’s Church in Saranac Lake, with the Rev. Patrick Ratigan officiating. Family and friends will gather afterward at the Bel. Burial will take place in St. Bernard’s Cemetery in Saranac Lake later this spring.
