John B. O'Sullivan ’65

When John O’Sullivan died in his sleep of a heart attack April 23, 2010, just before our 45th reunion, which he planned to attend, we lost one of our blithest spirits — a fellow of infinite jest and, as the Odyssey says on its first page, one who was never at a loss. No one who met John ever forgot him.

Born in Los Angeles and raised in Westchester, Washington, D.C., and Martha’s Vineyard, he majored in the Woodrow Wilson School and was an All-American fencer and member of our 1964 NCAA championship team. Before graduating from the NYU School of Law, he worked on Eugene McCarthy’s campaign and the Vietnam War moratorium.

John joined the Carter administration as chief advisory counsel at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and went on to become a nationally prominent energy attorney and partner in the firm of Chadbourne & Parke.

He is survived by Susan, his wife of many years; his daughters, Katharine ’06, and Sarah ’00 and her husband, Jason; and his mother and sister, Sonya and Chris. John’s passion for human rights sustained him throughout his life and lives on in the Petra Foundation, which he and Susan founded and fostered together with Mark Munger, Rich Diamond, and Don Irwin.