A lifelong New Englander, Ryan Sullivan was most at home hiking in the woods, boating on a lake or skiing down a slope.
Ryan Sullivan Photo courtesy of Gail Sullivan
He spent many of his childhood summers and weekends on Ossipee Lake in Freedom, New Hampshire. His mom, Gail Sullivan, said she can still remember the sound of her children on the water.
“The motor on the skiff was so loud, I’d always know where he was,” she said Tuesday. She would sit near a small stretch of the lake where he was allowed to operate the boat, watching with a pair of binoculars.
As he got older, Sullivan’s outdoor interests grew. His mom said he had a snowboard, a wakeboard, skis, a mountain bike and more recently a motorcycle.
Sullivan, 31, was found dead early on July 12 following a motorcycle crash, South Berwick police said. He had been living in North Berwick for a couple of years with his girlfriend, his mother said.
Investigators still don’t know what caused the crash, South Berwick Lt. Jeff Upton said in an email Monday. Officers found Sullivan’s body and bike in the woods off Ogunquit Road around 5:30 a.m. after receiving a call from a passing driver.
Police declined to publicly identify Sullivan at the time of the crash before notifying his family. Gail Sullivan, who lives in the house where Ryan grew up in Woburn, Massachusetts, said her nephew, who works for the Woburn Police Department, helped track her and her husband down after he found out about the crash.
She said she visited the site after the crash, bringing flowers and seeking closure. But that’s hard because she still doesn’t know what happened, either.
“I think it was dark, and there were no skid marks or anything,” Sullivan said. The bike wasn’t significantly damaged.
Ryan Sullivan of North Berwick loved the outdoors, his family said. Photo courtesy of Gail Sullivan
Ryan Sullivan grew up in Woburn, one of four siblings, and graduated from Woburn Memorial High School in 2010.
He was an electrician working on his journeyman’s license. His mom said the job was a natural fit for her outgoing and friendly son, who traveled the area for work and often visited others’ homes to make repairs.
Sullivan made friends wherever he went – in school, at work, even in the woods.
“He’d go hiking by himself and just meet people,” Gail Sullivan said.
Ryan Sullivan spent many years at Camp Calumet in West Ossipee, New Hampshire, where he was known as “Sully.” He arrived as a camper in 2008 and quickly advanced through the ranks to become a counselor, taking others on hikes and canoeing trips.
“At his core he really cared about all the people that were his friends, and his campers,” said Adam Fales, who was Sullivan’s camp counselor in 2008.
When Sullivan died, his family asked that people donate to Camp Calumet. Fales, now the camp’s director of youth programs, said many donations have come through in Sullivan’s name.
When Gail Sullivan wrote her son’s obituary, she said she wanted people to know about her son’s passion for the outdoors and his love for friends and family. Even though he lived more than an hour and a half from his family in Woburn, he still came home for large family gatherings and holidays.
Gail Sullivan said she visited her son in Maine days before his death.
“I hugged him and kissed him hello. I hugged him and kissed him goodbye. And that was it,” she said.
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