Barry Sullivan

Barry Sullivan was born August 7 1940 in Port Alberni. His family moved to Vancouver in 1942 and to North Vancouver in 1945, where Barry attended Queen Mary, Sutherland and North Vancouver High School, graduating in 1958. Having been very active in school sports as well as playing for the North Shore Soccer and Baseball Teams, Barry registered at the University of Western Washington intending to become a physical education teacher, but switched to UBC at the end of one year. After graduating with his BA in 1962, he spent two years working for BC Tel before returning to UBC to become a lawyer. He graduated in 1971 and in 1972 was called to the bar.

Mr. Sullivan spent the next four years as prosecutor for the City of Vancouver and the following five years in private practice. In 1982 he was named Crown Counsel for the North Fraser region and he also worked for a year with the B.C. Utilities Commission. In 1987 he was put in charge of the BC Royal Commission on Education, which came to be called the Sullivan Commission. Only a year after this Commission reported back to the government, Barry Sullivan died of a brain tumour, March 21 1989 at the young age of 48.

He is remembered for his work in three areas: law, social work, and education. As a lawyer, he was noted for his compassion for the victims of the criminals he prosecuted, especially chilren. An information program he designed to prevent child abuse is already in use in schools.

The bursary in his memory was established in 1988 by the classes graduating from North Vancouver High School and the newly opened Delbrook in 1958, who had all been classmates of Barry Sullivan until 1957.