Lynn Farrar Sullivan, 75, of Berkeley, passed away of advanced pancreatic cancer at Kaiser Medical Center in Oakland on Oct. 10, 2021. Lynn was born to Evelyn M. Ross and Robert F. Ross Sr. in Lancaster, New Hampshire, on May 20, 1946. She was raised in Gorham, New Hampshire, and graduated from Gorham High School in 1964. She attended Keene State College, where she met the love of her life, George Sullivan. They married in June 1966 and eventually settled in Greenfield, New Hampshire, where they raised their two daughters, Rebecca and Elizabeth Sullivan.
Lynn was a master craftswoman and loved to share her knowledge with others. Her attention to detail was apparent in everything she did. She belonged to the Monadnock Quilters’ Guild in New Hampshire, completing many quilting projects for family and friends, and generously donated works to fundraisers. She learned to weave at the Sharon Arts Center in Peterborough, New Hampshire, and was an active member of the New Hampshire Weavers Guild. Before Easter time, she would teach the art of pysanka, decorating Ukrainian Easter Eggs, to friends old and new. She loved the outdoors, animals and was an avid birdwatcher and perennial gardener. She was a stalwart genealogist for her family.
Lynn moved to Berkley after the loss of her husband and eldest daughter. She helped raise two of her grandchildren and cherished visits from her granddaughter from New Hampshire. Lynn was an active member of the Berkeley Unitarian Universalist Church in Kensington. She belonged to a group affectionately known as the Knititarians and her knitting was exemplary. She was an active member of the Golden Gate Weavers Guild. She regularly used the weaving studio at the Richmond Art Center, where she became an expert and prolific weaver.
A survivor, she faced life’s greatest tragedies with resiliency. She was a giver. When family and friends visited, she was the very best hostess and ultimate tour guide, planning grand excursions to hit all the most interesting cultural and artsy places. She loved her family and friends fiercely and embraced her time with them.
Lynn is survived by her beloved youngest daughter, Elizabeth Sullivan Hardman; grandchildren, Jonathan Hardman and Anthony Hardman and their paternal grandmother, her machatenester, Jane Eisenstark of Berkeley; granddaughter, Megan McClintock of Bedford, New Hampshire, and son-in-law, Todd McClintock of Lebanon, New Hampshire; brother, Robert F. Ross, Jr., and sister-in-law, Robin D. Ross of Randolph, New Hampshire; sister, Angela R. Russ, and brother-in-law, Louis P. Russ of Chino Valley, Arizona; sister, Christina M. Ross of Melrose, Massachusetts; several loving nieces and nephews, and their spouses; great-nieces and nephews; several cousins; her friends from the east coast; her best friend, Karen Tripp of Berkeley and her dear friends from the Berkeley area. She was predeceased by her husband, George M. Sullivan, her oldest daughter, Rebecca L. McClintock, and her parents, Robert F. Ross, Sr., and Evelyn M. Ross.
There will be a memorial exhibit of her fiber art in the Safir Room at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Road, Kensington from May 20 to May 22, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Additionally, there will be a memorial service officiated by Rev. Michele Collins celebrating Lynn’s life on Saturday, May 21 from 10 a.m. to noon. Lynn’s interment and East Coast memorial service will take place at Cathedral of the Pines, 10 Hale Hill Road, Rindge, NH, on June 11, 2022, at 9 a.m., where her remains will lay next to her husband’s. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Li Fraumeni Syndrome Association, P.O. Box 6458, Holliston, MA 01746.
