Weezee, Ma, Mom, honey, Karen, Mrs. Blondell- Whatever the name she went by with you, she always turned with her big brown eyes and a smile that would light up the room or a glare that would make you think twice about what you just said!
Karen grew up in the hay day of America in the housing projects in Somerville, MA. Everybody knew everybody. The buildings were a gigantic maze of anything goes. She grew up here with her mother, Eileen MacDougall Sullivan and father, Eugene Sullivan along with 7 other brothers and sisters; Eileen, Eugene, Bobby, Kevin, Janet Colleen and Brian. And a wide variety of pets that came and went.
Upon graduating high school Karen held a wide variety of jobs. A babysitter. Particularly to her nieces Sandy, Maureen, Kathleen and Karen. They looked up to her and Karen took it as a privilege to care for them. Though the care was mainly eating Italian bread and playing dress up, she made sure they were happy and healthy! She was also a Donut maker! She eventually planted her feet in at IB Moore, a rubber manufacturer and distributer. Karen made quite a mark here. Starting out as general reception and working her way up to inside sales manager, she crushed it. She also managed to get her sisters jobs there and keep it all in the family. They had a lot of fun and made a huge impact on the company. I ran into someone about a year ago who had worked there and was asking about “The Sullivan Sisters.”
Her surviving spouse, Jon Blondell, worked with a partnering company at the time in purchasing. Naturally with Karen in sales and Jon or “Marty” in purchasing, they got to talking. Eventually, they worked themselves out a deal that would last 43 years. They started dating in 1979. Jon picked her up in a Vette and I think that sealed the deal. After a couple of years dating and renting a place they would still comfortably refer to as “home” in Melrose, they settled on buying a small ranch house in Scituate. They found this house up for sale after going to their favorite (for years to come) hole in the wall dating spot, The Minot Light Inn. At the time it was an upscale dive bar. The type of place you could order off the boat fish in a fine dining feel, and maybe share a war story or two with a local fisherman at the bar. The house they settled on had poor heat and awful carpeting but they made it theirs, and still is to this day.
Over the years Karen worked for a number of companies right in Scituate. There was Shultz Doyle and Stoddard where she worked as an oil delivery dispatcher and also Shawn Harris Enterprises doing the like. She also worked as a medical receptionist and even the store we all know and love, Savers. She entered retirement about 4 years ago.
Karen is survived by her Husband Jon Blondell, her son Erik Blondell, sisters Janet Collins and Colleen Centola; brothers Kevin Sullivan, Bobby Sullivan and Brain Sullivan. She is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins from Plymouth to Charlestown to Billerica, North Reading, Sylva, NC, Maine, Troy, PA and Davidsonville MD.
There are countless stories of immediate and extended family to be shared that Karen remembered shortly up until Alzheimer’s cut her full life short. We’d hope those and all who would care to share these will be part of remembering her at her service in Canton. Wake: 2-5 Sunday 13, Funeral Service: 11 am Monday March 14, Dockray & Thomas Funeral Home 455 Washington St, Canton, MA.