Joseph A. Sullivan ’59

"Bo" Sullivan, business executive, gregarious politician, and community leader, died in Morristown, N.J., on Mar. 13, 2000, following a stroke.

Bo came to Princeton from Newark Academy, where he captained the football team and excelled in other student activities. At Princeton he played JV football and majored in sociology. Married in his junior year, Bo nevertheless managed to make regular weekend appearances at Cannon Club.

Following graduation Bo joined his father in business at Bomont Industries, while earning a law degree from Seton Hall in 1964. As pres. and CEO, Bo brought Bomont, initially a typewriter-ribbon company, into the computer age, manufacturing industrial fabrics and expanding into an international corporation.

In 1981 he staged a vigorous though unsuccessful race for the Republican nomination for governor of New Jersey, following which, he was appointed chair of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. He served also as finance chair of the New Jersey Republican Party, and vice-chair of the 1984 Reagan/Bush campaign, all the while tutoring countless young little league football hopefuls. Wrestling calves on his Montana ranch provided still another interest.

Bo is survived by Eileen, his wife of over 40 years, his sons Joseph III, Michael, James, and Edward, and 10 grandchildren. The class extends its deepest sympathies.

The Class of 1959