The Exchange Club of Salem, NH is sad to report the passing of John Sullivan (Friday, April 26, 2002), just two weeks after the death of his wife Helen (Monday, April 8th, 2002). As a memorial to the contributions that John and Helen made to Exchange, and to their community, and to the general enrichment of the lives that they touched, we are proud to announce the establishment of;

This fund will be initially funded by the club, and administered by the Salem NH chapter of Dollars For Scholars.

For those of you that didn't really get to know John and Helen, John is our only member that was part of the original chartering of the club in 1967 as an off-shoot of the Lawrence, MA Exchange club.

In June of this year, John would have become the only member of our club to wear a 35-year membership pin.

John was the club's treasurer for the first 15 years of our existence and often paid his dues as much as a year or more in advance in order to keep the club afloat!

When we lost a few thousand dollars at one disastrous casino night, John stepped up and co-signed a loan with Doug Seed at Indian Head Bank to bail the club out of it's debt.

At about twenty of our annual steak & lobster cookouts, John and Helen would be found sweating over the open pit fire doing the cooking for the entire club - smiling and having a ball the whole time. A big supporter of the tree sale, after his retirement from the Post Office in 1980, John could be found manning the Christmas tree lot day shifts by himself so the other members could tend to their businesses.

John was awarded the first of only two "Exchangite Extraordinaire" awards that have been awarded by our club.

He was very active in the National and N.H. Postmasters Associations and the Arlington Pond Protective Association as well as several other organizations. After family parties and entertaining at his waterfront home, the Postmasters Association and his beloved Exchange Club were his most precious extracurricular activities.

Prior to Helen's illness John and Helen were deeply involved in every facet of Exchange in Salem.

Born and educated in Salem, he lived in Salem all his life. During World War II, Mr. Sullivan served in the Army Air Corps.

John Started Sullivan Fuel Co. in 1947. He became Salem's Postmaster in 1950 and served in that position and later as Assistant Postmaster. Following in his mother's footsteps (yes, she was the Postmaster for many years!), he served in the Salem Post Office for over 30 years. The coal and oil business was operated mainly by Helen and their son, Cliff, during John's Post Office years.

In 1980, he was named Exchangite of the Year by the Salem Exchange Club and was a member of the First Charter Study Commissioners. A member of the Salem Kiwanis, he donated several hours each year selling Christmas trees for the Exchange Club for community charities.

He was a member of St. Joseph Church. He was also a member of the National Association of Postmasters and American Legion Post 63.

Mr. Sullivan was the assistant moderator of the North Salem Voters District, volunteer firefighter, special police officer of Salem and treasurer of the Arlington Pond Protection Association for several years.

The widower of Helen F. (Bedard) Sullivan, he leaves son and daughter-in-law Clifford F. and Diane Sullivan of Salem; sisters Margaret Robbins of Derry and Helen (Bernes) Ackerman of Salem and Florida; two grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be made to:

care of Salem Exchange Club, Box 145, Salem, NH 03079.