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Retired bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph dies Feb. 12, 2001 | 4:36 p.m. KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Most Rev. John Joseph Sullivan, retired bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City and St. Joseph, has died of complications from Parkinson's disease, the diocese announced Monday. Sullivan died Sunday evening in Kansas City. He was 80. Sullivan headed the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese from 1977 until Parkinson's forced him to retire in 1993. Before that, he was the bishop of the Grand Island, Neb., diocese for five years. He was born July 5, 1920 at Horton, Kan., and grew up in Oklahoma City. Sullivan was a graduate of St. Benedict's College (now Benedictine) in Atchison, Kan., and of the Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis. He was ordained in 1944. From 1961 to 1968, Sullivan was the national director of lay volunteers for the Catholic Church Extension Society, an organization dedicated to serving the poor across the United States. His work led to the founding in 1985 of the national Institute for Pastoral Life and Ministry, an organization that trains Catholic lay ministers. In 1989, Sullivan put together a public-private partnership to fund scholarships to Catholic schools in Kansas City's urban core. Since then, the Central City School Fund has spent more than $17 million on scholarships for more than 5,000 students. The Most Rev. Raymond J. Boland, Sullivan's successor as bishop, will open visitation at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Kansas City. A vigil service will begin at 7 p.m. On Friday, a prayer service is scheduled for 9 a.m. and a Funeral Mass for 1 p.m., both at the cathedral. Burial will be at the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Kansas City. All services are open to the public. AP-CS-02-12-01 1734EST http://www.postnet.com/postnet/news/wires.nsf/StateRegion/5B5B93DF 283BFCF5862569F1007C0851?OpenDocument ********************