Sullivan, Noel

Biography

Noël Sullivan was born in San Francisco on December 25, 1890, the youngest child and only son of Frank J. and Alice Phelan Sullivan, the nephew of Senator James D. Phelan, and the grandson of John Sullivan who came west in 1844 with the "Sullivan-Murphy Party." The family was a wealthy and distinguished one. Young Sullivan attended the Jesuit colleges of St. Ignatius and Santa Clara, but his interests were musical, not academic. He studied voice abroad and for a number of years maintained residence in Paris. During World War I he served as an ambulance driver with the American Field Service in France.

In 1925 his father was stricken with paralysis, and Sullivan returned to take up residence with him at 2323 Hyde Street, San Francisco. The house had an interesting history. It had belonged to Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson and was purchased by Sullivan's mother as a home for the community of Carmelite nuns who had come to San Francisco in 1908 at the invitation of the bishop. The Carmelites remained there until 1914 when they removed to Santa Clara. One of the nuns was Sullivan's sister, Ada, known in religious life as Sister (later Mother) Agnes of Jesus.

The Hyde Street residence remained Sullivan's home for many years, and it became a gathering place for the musicians, artists, writers and poets who were his friends. He pursued his musical interests as a patron of the art, and as a concert singer of considerable reputation, albeit a local one. Sullivan often described himself as a "gifted waster," adding, "even a career of intelligent wasting requires some thought and planning." This was not an altogether fair estimate of himself, however. In addition to his contributions to San Francisco's musical wealth, he devoted much money, time and effort, during the early thirties, to the campaign for the abolition of capital punishment, serving as chairman of the California Committee of the American League to Abolish Capital Punishment. He was also greatly interested in the welfare of Negores and many became close personal friends.

In August 1930, James D. Phelan, his famous and wealthy uncle, died, making Sullivan one of his heirs. The estate, however, yielded little to the residuary legatees during the early years of the thirties. In order to secure the three to four million dollars needed for the great number of cash bequests and the inheritance taxes, the trustees of the estate incurred a heavy indebtedness, deciding not to sell securities on the depressed market. The interest and payment on the debts, and the depleted revenue characteristic of the depression, practically wiped out the income Phelan had anticipated for his heirs. The legend of Sullivan's inheritance, however, made him the target for financial appeals of all kinds, and those who had profited from Phelan's generosity in the past naturally looked to Sullivan for a continuance. The death of his father, in November 1950, and his aunt, Mary Louise Phelan, in January 1933, in whose estates he also shared inheritances, further complicated his financial difficulties.

Despite the number of years he lived abroad, Sullivan remained close to his family, due undoubtedly to the strong Irish Catholic upbringing. His two married sisters, Alyce S. Murphy and Gladys S. Doyle, produced families in whose happiness and well being Sullivan was greatly concerned, and after the death of Mrs. Doyle in July 1933, he assumed considerable responsibility for the upbringing of her five children, the oldest of whom was ten. His deep affection for his sister, Mother Agnes of Jesus (and the tradition of the Sullivan and Phelan families), prompted his continued interest in the Carmelite monasteries in Santa Clara, Carmel and San Diego, and led to the establishment of a new community in Berkeley.

In the late thirties Sullivan purchased property in Carmel Valley and he made "Hollow Hills Farm" his permanent home in 1939. There Sullivan, a great animal lover, raised his dogs and his sheep and goats. He made that home, also, a gathering place for notables in the artistic world and a haven for his many friends. Continuing his musical interests, he took an active part in the Carmel Bach festivals, and served as organist and soloist at the Carmel Mission and as director of the board of the Carmel Music Society.

In the closing years of his life, Sullivan suffered from a heart condition, and he died of a heart attack on September 15, 1956.

From the guide to the Noël Sullivan Papers, [ca. 1911-1956], (The Bancroft Library)