Full obituary: Tighe Sullivan

Tighe Sullivan, 51, of Darien, died on Tuesday, Oct. 9, in a tragic helicopter crash in Pennsylvania. Tighe Peter Sullivan was born March 16, 1961, in Montclair, N.J.

Sullivan co-founded, along with John Fraser also of Darien, the leveraged-loan firm WCAS Fraser Sullivan Investment Management LLC in 2005.  Two weeks ago 3i Group Pic, the UK’s oldest private equity firm, bought a controlling interest in Fraser Sullivan.

Sullivan was a career high-yield bond salesman whose relationships on Wall Street were deep and varied.  He began his career in 1983 at Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, where he met his future partner and long-time friend John Fraser. Sullivan then transferred to London to take on trading responsibilities. In 1989 Sullivan entered high-yield sales at Drexel, Burham, Lambert. Subsequently, he started and ran First Union Bank’s high-yield bond business in Charlotte, North Carolina. He later became a managing director at Deutsche Bank in high-yield sales.

Fiercely committed to his career and his family, Sullivan was also an avid outdoorsman who skied, wakeboarded, ran, biked and played hockey with gusto. He coached his son’s hockey teams and his daughters’ softball teams. Richard Lombard, his father-in-law, said, “Tighe was just a wonderful guy, full of spirit. An action person.”

A graduate of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, Sullivan was a deeply committed alumnus. He worked tirelessly with the Colgate administration to bring better understanding between the university and the fraternities and sororities on campus. This was driven by his love of and devotion to his fraternity, Beta Theta Pi.

He is survived by his wife of 24 years, Callie Sullivan; his daughter Jessie, a freshman at Colgate University; daughter Lila, a senior at Darien High School; and son, Tiger, a sophomore at Darien High School. He is also survived by his sister, Dawn Luna, of Nashville, Tennessee, and brother, Shawn, of Houston, Texas. His parents are deceased.

Visitation will be held in the Meeting House Fellowship Hall at The United Church of Rowayton on Friday, Oct. 12, 3 to 6 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 13, 2 to 5.

A Memorial Service will be held in the church’s House of Worship on Sunday, Oct. 14, at 1 p.m. Interment will be private.

The family would welcome charitable contributions to either the Beta Scholarship Fund, Colgate University, Gift Records Office, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY 13346 or The Silver Bay Capital Campaign, Silver Bay YMCA Conference Center, 87 Silver Bay Road, Silver Bay, NY 12874.