Sullivan recalled as businessman,
fisher
A Life Remembered
 |
|
PAUL CRAIG, pcraig@newsreview.info
December 18, 2005
Print
Email
Subscribe
There’s an old adage in business that says when
taking over a company with a good reputation, don’t change the name.
Tim
Sullivan built a solid reputation with his customers during his 25 years as
owner of Tim’s Appliance Warehouse in Roseburg. That’s why now, two years after
he sold the business, it is still named after him.
Sullivan, 56, died
Aug. 28 from cancer.
“He always wanted to make sure he’d have the ability
to take care of his customers,” said Joe DeMeyer, longtime friend and current
owner of Tim’s Appliance.
When Sullivan took over the business around 25
years ago, he sold 29 appliances in his first month, DeMeyer said. The next
month, he sold seven.
DeMeyer said Sullivan struggled to get the
business going, even joking that he could shoot a gun off in the store and no
one would notice, because no one was coming in.
The one part of the
business he wouldn’t compromise, however, was the service department. He simply
wanted to do the job right and provide service to the community.
Sullivan managed to do that, while also making the business a
success.
“He didn’t have any desire to be the biggest guy in town,”
DeMeyer said.
As long as Sullivan had a camping or fishing trip planned,
he was fine, according to Dan Cossey, a friend of 12 years.
Cossey met
Sullivan when they joined a mutual friend on a fishing trip. After that,
Sullivan started getting his morning coffee at Cossey’s Anderson Place Market in
Roseburg.
They would talk about their stresses, share stories and plan
their next fishing adventure over a cup of coffee.
Cossey remembers one
adventure in particular.
On a fishing outing, Sullivan caught a snag. It
pulled the pole right out of his hand and into the water.
Sullivan was
controlling his boat’s trolling motor with a remote control in one hand at the
time. With his other, he made a gallant effort to get his pole back. He also
almost went over the side of the boat.
Sullivan had to be pulled in by
his pants, Cossey said. He also didn’t get his pole back.
“He goes, ‘that
was a $400 reel’,” Cossey said, laughing about the memory. “He about got us
killed.”
His determination carried over to more than just fishing.
Sullivan fought several bouts of cancer during his life, starting when he was in
his 20s.
Even when Sullivan was feeling sick, DeMeyer said, he never
stayed down long. He was always doing what he could to help his customers and
family.
“Twice out of the five times, they only gave him six weeks to
live —
and he pulled out of it,” DeMeyer said.
Sullivan is survived
by his wife Arlene, who spends winters in Yuma, Ariz., and two grown children.
DeMeyer said he planned to hang a framed photograph of Sullivan in Tim’s
Appliance, as a way to honor his friend. Sullivan hired DeMeyer for an appliance
sales job in Washington in the late 1970s.
Sullivan promoted DeMeyer to
manage a Twin Falls, Idaho, store.
DeMeyer met his wife there and had a
child. Years later, Sullivan courted DeMeyer to purchase Tim’s Appliance.
“Tim affected my life more than anybody in my entire life,” DeMeyer
said.
• You can reach reporter Paul Craig at 957-4211 or by e-mail
at pcraig@newsreview.info.
Editor’s
note: “A Life Remembered” is an occasional feature that looks into the life of a
Douglas County resident who has died recently. Anyone with suggestions for a
story subject may contact City Editor Vicki Menard, e-mail: vmenard@newsreview.info, or
957-4201.
