Thomas Sullivan; computer guy, Navy veteran

THOMAS J. Sullivan had a responsible career in systems engineering with IBM for 25 years, but on the weekends he let his frisky side run a little wild.

There was, for instance, drag-racing.

Tom took a 1980 Corvette he purchased new, goosed up the horsepower, took it to the Atco Raceway in New Jersey and competed in drag-racing duels as an amateur.

"He had a need for speed," said his son Michael. "He did pretty well at Atco."

Typical of Tom, he learned to modify his Corvette himself, reading up on the fine art of auto modification and doing all the work.

He applied the same passion to flying and his longtime love for Portugal.

Thomas Sullivan, a senior systems engineer for IBM, a consultant on computer programming, Navy veteran of the Korean War and devoted father and grandfather, died Sunday of a heart attack. He was 81 and lived in Dresher, Montgomery County.

Tom, who was born in New York, was the son of Jerome Sullivan and the former Clara Kalemba. He enlisted in the Navy in 1947 at the age of 17.

He was attached to the VC-35 attack squadron aboard the USS Valley Forge. When the Korean War broke out, the Valley Forge was dispatched from its home port in Japan and participated in the first offensive actions of the conflict.

Tom remained in the combat theater for seven months and then was transferred to the USS Princeton for the remainder of 1952.

Future posts included San Diego and Willow Grove Naval air stations. He left the Navy as a chief petty officer in 1956.

Tom graduated from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in 1959, and the College of New Jersey in 1988 with a master's degree in psychology.

After his retirement from IBM in 1986, he became a computer-programming consultant with General Accident Insurance Co.

Tom's Navy service led to two of his strong interests: flying and Portugal.

Although he didn't fly in the Navy, he often was in the back seat of Navy aircraft and learned to love it. He obtained his pilot's and instructor's licenses and flew out of the former Turner Field in Horsham, where he also was a flight instructor.

He would take his kids up in a plane and buzz their house.

While stationed in Lisbon, Portugal, Tom came to love the country and the people. He and his wife, the former Theresa McCann, visited Portugal at least 15 times over the years.

"He wouldn't go to the Jersey shore, but he would fly to Portugal," his son said.

Tom taught himself to speak Portuguese, and developed websites devoted to traveling and exploring Portugal in the early '90s.

"The Portuguese tourism people heard about it, and they would send him free hotel reservations and other freebies," his son said.

"He was a voracious reader," Michael said. "He was a very remarkable man."

Tom was a member of St. Alphonsus Church in Maple Glen.

Besides his wife and son, he is survived by three daughters, Krista McElroy, Kathleen Rodebaugh and Kerry Maginnis; two other sons, Thomas J. and John, and 14 grandchildren.

Services: Funeral Mass 11 a.m. tomorrow at St. Alphonsus Church, 33 Conwell Drive, Maple Glen. Friends may call at 10 a.m. Burial will be in St. John Neumann Cemetery, Chalfont.

Donations may be made to SobrietyGroup.com, 95 James Way, Suite 119A, Southampton, PA 18966-3847.