Alaska News

Former Mayor George Sullivan dead at 87

George Sullivan, the mayor who steered Anchorage's city government into a modern municipality, died at home Wednesday night of complications from lung cancer.

His eldest son, Tim, said his father died peacefully in his sleep at 10:08 p.m. He was surrounded by his family. He was 87.

A lifelong Alaskan, Sullivan was born on March 31, 1922, and raised in Valdez.

He had a long and storied career in Alaska and its politics. He was a deputy marshal in Nenana, a city councilman in Fairbanks and Anchorage, and became Anchorage's city mayor in 1967.

He held that position until the old Anchorage city and borough governments unified under a new charter in 1975, when Sullivan won election as the new municipal government's first mayor.

He served the charter-limited two terms in that position.

Altogether, Sullivan held the top post in Anchorage's city government for 14 years, longer than any other person.

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He and his wife, Margaret Eagan Sullivan, had 9 children. Margaret Sullivan died in 2007.

One of his sons, Dan, is Anchorage's current mayor.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

By DON HUNTER

dhunter@adn.com

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