William Stanley Sullivan

Published 2:19 pm Thursday, March 24, 2022

Transportation & Personnel Management Executive (1946 – 2022)

William Stanley Sullivan was born on February 2, 1946 in Vicksburg, Mississippi at the Vicksburg Infirmary, a former Civil War hospital. His parents, William Chapman Sullivan and Callie Louise Knight Sullivan, welcomed him to their home on “The Hill” adjacent to Culkin Academy High School where his father served as principal and his mother, as librarian and English Department chair. Culkin community is located in Warren County just outside of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Due to complications following a bicycling accident sustained while vacationing, he died on March 21, 2022, in Lakeland, Florida.

Known during his childhood as “Stanley,” as a young adult attending college, he switched to his personal preference, the clipped usage, “Stan.”

During his youth growing up on the campus of Culkin Academy, Stan’s charismatic personality emerged, and he gained a reputation as a leader among the community’s youngsters. He delighted in welcoming neighbors to participate in favorite activities: bicycling, backyard sports, campus beautification and also managing the routes of toy trucks and cars in his elaborate sandbox highway system. Throughout his life, he remembered his beloved childhood dog, a Collie named Bob. A member of the Woodlawn Baptist Church, Stan was a proud 4H Club award-winner in competitions at the annual Miss-Lou Fair held in Vicksburg.

In his high school years, Stan’s excellence in athletics and student leadership roles continued to impress. He was a member of the school’s choir and played the lead role in the play “Beauty and the Beef” produced by the Class of ’64 and directed by the class sponsor, his mother. Stan served as co-captain of the Culkin Wildcats Football Team playing defensive tackle and guard positions. During his senior year, he represented Culkin at the American Legion’s Mississippi Boys State leadership program. He was offered and accepted a full four-year football scholarship to the University of Mississippi by the legendary Coach Johnny Vaught.

While at Ole Miss, Stan played on the Freshman Rebels team, and after sustaining an injury, then served as the official “spotter” for the Ole Miss Rebels Football broadcast channel. In this role, he became an avid student and observer of the game from above the field rather than the ground level he had known as a player. This Press Box experience served him well as immediately following his graduation from Ole Miss, he accepted an offer from the Cobb County Schools to the position of Assistant Coach at Osborne High School in Marietta, Georgia.

Also while at Ole Miss, Stan emerged as a leader of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity where he was known for his astute ability to identify and recruit potential new members, known as “pledges” in the college Greek system tradition.

Stan’s noted expertise in personnel management developed with his employment by Lockheed Martin where he worked at manufacturing plants located in Georgia and California. Making the shift to management in the trucking industry, Stan went on to work for Refrigerated Trucking based in North Carolina, KLLM Transport Services in Jackson, Mississippi, and Rocor International based in Oklahoma. Among his proud achievements was opening a network of trucking terminals in cities throughout the United States. Following in his father’s footsteps, Stan went on to co-found a major Trucking School located in Brandon, Mississippi where he guided adult learners in gaining certification by the State of Mississippi as big rig drivers.

Stan was an avid Southeastern Conference football fan and supporter of the Ole Miss Rebels athletic programs at the University of Mississippi. In addition to attending football games, he especially enjoyed boating, fishing, hunting, grilling and traveling in his prized RV with his wife Carol to all parts of the U.S. and Canada. Throughout his life, Stan was keenly interested in vehicles of all types.

As a direct descendent of Thomas Jefferson “Pappy Tom” Sullivan, founder of the famous Sullivan’s Hollow region in Smith County, Mississippi, Stan attended Sullivan Family reunions regularly. He also attended the Culkin Wildcat reunions held annually in his original hometown, Vicksburg.

Preceded in death by his father, William C. Sullivan; and mother, Callie Louise Knight Sullivan, he is survived by his wife Carol Whitten Sullivan, Brandon, MS; sister Betty Louise Sullivan, San Francisco, CA; nephew John H. Herren, niece Elizabeth Louise Herren and grand-niece Callie Louise Herren, Orlando, FL.

Funeral arrangements, with McKibben & Guinn, 4817 Commerce Street, Grenada, Mississippi, include 2 pm visitation and funeral services at 4 pm, Sunday, March 27, 2022.