Stella M Sullivan
Stella M Sullivan
Sullivan was born in Houston, Texas. She received her bachelor’s degree in architecture from Rice University, then studied at the Museum School (now Glassell School of Art) of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Detroit Society of Art and Crafts.
She established the Stella Sullivan School of Art in the 1970s, teaching painting, drawing, design, and silkscreening. She was a member of several local and national art organizations.
Born in Houston
Sullivan was born in Houston, Texas on July 11, 1924. She earned a degree in architecture from Rice Institute (now Rice University), and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Detroit, after which she returned to Houston. She taught painting, drawing and design at the Glassell School of Art, the University of Houston, Sam Houston State University and the University of Delaware.
She was also a founder of the artists’ collective store Handmakers, which showcased work by local artisans. She was a contemporaries with some of the more famous Houston artists of her day, including Emma Richardson Cherry, Ola McNeill Davidson, Grace Spaulding John and Ruth Pershing Uhler.
Her career as an artist and teacher spanned seven decades. Her most notable contributions included several paintings of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which hang in the South transept of Holy Rosary Catholic Church.
She died at the age of 93 on December 24, 2017 following a fall and a brief illness. Her legacy lives on in the work of many of her students and colleagues. She is survived by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She is also remembered by countless friends and family members, both near and far. In lieu of flowers, the Sullivans request that donations be made in her name to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Rice University, or the Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Married Francis Ouimet
She married Francis Ouimet in 1918, a man who had served in the Army and owned a sporting-goods store. They raised two daughters, Barbara and Jane.
The family lived in a quaint Wellesley home, “a museum,” she says, filled with trophies from all their golf trips. “A lot of them were to the British Isles.”
At the time, Ouimet was in a very low-income family set up, and his financial status was below that of many others. Despite this, he pursued an amateur golf career and won the Massachusetts Amateur at age 20.
His career was boosted when he won the 1913 U.S. Open, a tournament held at The Country Club in Brookline. He beat Britons Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in an 18-hole playoff.
That incredible win launched a wave of interest in golf, and brought it into the mainstream. Until then, the sport had been dominated by British players.
In Mark Frost’s book, The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet and the Birth of Modern Golf, the author notes that Ouimet carried 11 clubs. The driver, a brassie (modern 2-wood), a spoon, a wooden cleek, a sammy, a jigger, a mid-iron, a mashie, and a putter were all in his bag.
Sheila Macomber, who lives in Cape Cod with her husband, Ed, goes to the annual Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund banquet because they believe that he is “the father of American golf.” She believes in his story, she says. It is a story of human dignity.
Died in Newton
stella m sullivan died in Newton, MA on June 12, 2020. She was a longtime resident of Dorchester and a lifelong resident of Saint Sebastian Parish (Our Lady of Mount Carmel). Stella enjoyed bowling and volleyball, playing games & cards, vacations at the beach, spending time with her grandchildren, and family gatherings. She was a devoted wife and mother. She is survived by her loving husband of 65 years, William E. Shiber, and her devoted children Sharon, Susan, James, and Joseph. She is also survived by her beloved sisters Nell Brown, Robert Sullivan Jr., Mildred Sullivan, and Linda Langdon; and numerous nieces and nephews.
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