Miles
Miles Vincent Sullivan
d. February 27, 2016
Sullivan, Miles Vincent
1917-2016
KALAMAZOO INVENTOR HELD 90 PATENTS
Science was career but family his priority
Born in Fargo, ND and raised in Winona, MN, Miles Sullivan graduated from Wabash College, served in the United States Navy during World War II, earned his Ph.D. in physical chemistry at Purdue University, married Evelyn Burns Sullivan (1923-2004) in 1948 and began a 35-year career in technology projects at Bell Telephone Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey.
In Winona, his mother, Cora Selck Sullivan, ran a small store to support Miles and his brother Tom, following the death of her husband Thomas. The one-room store doubled as sleeping quarters for the boys and Cora who managed day-to-day life without heat or running water.
Not able to afford college, Miles stayed in town until his high school math teacher put the wheels in motion for a full scholarship to Wabash College, followed by graduate school at Purdue University. Pausing studies for service in the Navy during World War II, he finished his masters and Ph.D. in physical chemistry.
While at Purdue, he met his wife, Evelyn Burns. They settled in Summit, NJ, where he worked for 35 years as an inventor and researcher at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ. During that time, he earned many patents, including a link that provided energy to the Mars Rover. After retirement from BTL in 1982, Miles and Evelyn lived in Hendersonville, NC.
Of the more than 90 patents, he is perhaps best known for the drinking bird that sits on the edge of a glass, perpetually bobbing in water without any internal or external energy source. United States President Herbert Hoover had one on his desk in the Oval Office. Albert Einstein stayed up all night at one point, puzzled about how it worked. When asked in the morning if he had figured it out, he shook his head then proceeded to disassemble the bird for his answer.
Residing at Friendship Village in Kalamazoo, Michigan since 2000, Miles was a member of Calvary Bible Church. His children are Doug Sullivan, and wife Rebeccah, of Dallas, Texas, Jane Kehlenbeck, and husband Mark, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Anne Sullivan, of Wheaton, Illinois. His six grandchildren are Amy Bell (Justin), Anna Schroeder (Peter), Sarah Johnson (William), Lauren Turnbull (Jon), John Kehlenbeck (Holly), and Beccah Reed (Chris), and 15 great grandchildren.
Miles passed away at home on February 27th . A private service was held for immediate family members at Oak Grove Cemetery in Lawton. Gifts in his memory may be given to Calvary Bible Church, Kalamazoo, Michigan or 58ten, sponsors for the Kitui Baby Home, an orphanage in Kenya.
**MEMORIALS**
Calvary Bible Church
855 S. Drake Rd.
Kalamazoo, MI 49009
269-372-1130
Calvarybible.org
58ten - Kitui Baby Home
105 Country Lane
Morgantown, PA 19543
MI, US
1917-2016
KALAMAZOO INVENTOR HELD 90 PATENTS
Science was career but family his priority
Born in Fargo, ND and raised in Winona, MN, Miles Sullivan graduated from Wabash College, served in the United States Navy during World War II, earned his Ph.D. in physical chemistry at Purdue University, married Evelyn Burns Sullivan (1923-2004) in 1948 and began a 35-year career in technology projects at Bell Telephone Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey.
In Winona, his mother, Cora Selck Sullivan, ran a small store to support Miles and his brother Tom, following the death of her husband Thomas. The one-room store doubled as sleeping quarters for the boys and Cora who managed day-to-day life without heat or running water.
Not able to afford college, Miles stayed in town until his high school math teacher put the wheels in motion for a full scholarship to Wabash College, followed by graduate school at Purdue University. Pausing studies for service in the Navy during World War II, he finished his masters and Ph.D. in physical chemistry.
While at Purdue, he met his wife, Evelyn Burns. They settled in Summit, NJ, where he worked for 35 years as an inventor and researcher at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ. During that time, he earned many patents, including a link that provided energy to the Mars Rover. After retirement from BTL in 1982, Miles and Evelyn lived in Hendersonville, NC.
Of the more than 90 patents, he is perhaps best known for the drinking bird that sits on the edge of a glass, perpetually bobbing in water without any internal or external energy source. United States President Herbert Hoover had one on his desk in the Oval Office. Albert Einstein stayed up all night at one point, puzzled about how it worked. When asked in the morning if he had figured it out, he shook his head then proceeded to disassemble the bird for his answer.
Residing at Friendship Village in Kalamazoo, Michigan since 2000, Miles was a member of Calvary Bible Church. His children are Doug Sullivan, and wife Rebeccah, of Dallas, Texas, Jane Kehlenbeck, and husband Mark, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Anne Sullivan, of Wheaton, Illinois. His six grandchildren are Amy Bell (Justin), Anna Schroeder (Peter), Sarah Johnson (William), Lauren Turnbull (Jon), John Kehlenbeck (Holly), and Beccah Reed (Chris), and 15 great grandchildren.
Miles passed away at home on February 27th . A private service was held for immediate family members at Oak Grove Cemetery in Lawton. Gifts in his memory may be given to Calvary Bible Church, Kalamazoo, Michigan or 58ten, sponsors for the Kitui Baby Home, an orphanage in Kenya.
**MEMORIALS**
Calvary Bible Church
855 S. Drake Rd.
Kalamazoo, MI 49009
269-372-1130
Calvarybible.org
58ten - Kitui Baby Home
105 Country Lane
Morgantown, PA 19543
Service
MAR 6
PrivateMI, US
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