Elizabeth Pelletieri

Elizabeth Pelletieri of Saranac Lake died March 20th at Elderwood in Lake Placid. She was 96. Known widely as “Sully,” she was born Elizabeth Rita Sullivan on June 25, 1922 in Bloomingdale, to Winifred (nea Howard) and Philip Sullivan, the eldest child of eight.

From the age of five, Sully grew up in Saranac Lake. At St. Bernard's School, she was a schoolgirl friend of Connie Keane, who became the film star Veronica Lake. See Sully's photo in the 1939 Canaras: Varsity Club, French Club, Basketball (4 years!) Volley Ball, Soccer, Bat Ball, Our Book, and Baseball. She enjoyed skiing on French Hill! Her father was a respected and successful plumber who believed in an education for all his children. Sully graduated from Albany Business College, and after working in Westport for several months, she went to work for Robert Reiss at Northland Auto on Broadway, where the Adult Center is today. Northland was an Oldsmobile Dealer and Sully became the manager. Among other things, she did the bookkeeping for the construction of the North Pole in Wilmington. She continued to work at Northland until the birth of of her first child. As a young woman, Sully enjoyed spending time on Lower Saranac with her friends Elsie, Gen and Kate, and driving around with them in her own car. Sully liked to drive, and she received her first and only single ticket at the age of seventy-eight. She grudgingly gave up her license at the age of eighty-nine.

After the war, Sully met Vincent Pelletieri. They married in 1954. When Vinnie left the partnership at the Belvedere to purchase Mark's Bar and Grill in 1962, Sully's business knowledge and experience were a big help in the new family enterprise, a job she continued for twenty-five years.

Sully was the proud mother of five children, Winifred, Elias, Philip, Vincent and Mary Agnes. They all followed in her footsteps at St. Bernard's School. She often loaded the kids into the big wagon, along with friends and cousins, to go to an Expos game in Montreal. Round Lake was another favorite destination. After the Expos left Montreal, Sully became a Red Sox fan.

She was a charter member of the Ladies of the Moose. She enjoyed going to Chataeugay Lake with Joan and Don Branch. Sully and Vinnie had wonderful trips to Hawaii with her sister Winifred and her husband Bert Yorkey. She celebrated her 80th birthday as the cook at the John Trevor Camp on Upper St. Regis. Sully also worked several years at Uihlein. An excellent seamstress, Sully made clothes and costumes, notably many outfits for the elaborate HomEnergy floats in the Winter Carnival Parade. She rode the dragon float in the Celtic Carnival parade of 2014. Dr. George Cook was a great friend to Sully and she was his longest term patient, although she was rarely sick and was hospitalized for the first time in 2011. Her joke with George was that she felt 65 until the age of 88. Up until recently, Sully could be seen at the Bel enjoying lunch with Joan Branch and Lori Rumble. She spent a lot of time with family and friends last summer at her beloved Kiwassa camp which her father built himself, sixty-two years ago.

Sully attended many funerals in her lifetime, including those of her parents, her brothers John and his wife Theresa, brothers Robert, Peter and Philip, and her sisters, Margaret and her husband John Campion, and Winifred and her husband Bert Yorkey and her husband Vinnie to whom she was married for 59 years. She is lovingly remembered by her sister Ann Loftis, sister-in-law Agatha (Peter) Sullivan, children Winifred Pelletieri and her husband Jim Catania, Elias Pelletieri and his wife Tammy, Philip Pelletieri and his wife Mary Beth, Vincent Pelletieri, Jr., and Mary Agnes Pelletieri and her husband Dan Reilly. Her grandchildren were her special love, including Maria, Hannah, Nikolas, Zoe, Zane and Biancha. Sully got to say goodbye to her great granddaughter Annie Elizabeth. She was loved by her many nieces and nephews.

Calling hours will be from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM Friday March 29th at Fortune Keough Funeral Home in Saranac Lake. A mass of Christian burial will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday March 30th, at St. Bernard's Church, with the Reverend Patrick Ratigan officiating. Family and friends will gather afterwards at the Bel. Burial will take place in St. Bernard's Cemetery later this spring.

In lieu of flowers, if friends so desire, donations can be made in Sully's memory to Mercy Care for the Adirondacks or St. Bernard's School. The family would like to thank the staff at Elderwood, and Sister Denise, for the kind care Sully received while she was there.