Larry Sullivan was born in New London, Connecticut. He married his wife Brenda in June of 1964 and graduated University of Hartford on their first anniversary. Their oldest daughter Colleen was born the day before. All-in-all they have five children (three boys and two girls) and eleven grandchildren.
In September 1968 Larry went to work at O’Neill’s Chevrolet and took over the dealership in 1986. Later he expanded to two adjacent dealerships in Torrington with Chevrolet, Pontiac and Oldsmobile in one store and Chrysler and Jeep in the second. Around 2006, he added Cadillac, Buick and GMC in Torrington (after Pontiac and Oldsmobile were discontinued). In 2013 he purchased a Honda dealership, also in Torrington and at about this time, turned the management of the dealerships over to sons Sean and Kevin. He also turned over his Car Biz Collision and Towing Center off Old Farms Road in Avon to his son Tim.
Larry has been active with the Rotary of Avon-Canton continuously since 1985. Early on, shortly after the Iron Curtain came down, the Club undertook a huge project to send used medical and dental equipment along with three retired ambulances to Estonia. Larry’s role in this project was to refurbish the three ambulances to running condition and get them ready to ship. The used and retired stuff that was sent over wound up advancing Estonia’s equipment by forty years. He was awarded a Paul Harris for that project. Larry is also a past President and has served as Chair of the Club’s golf tournament fundraiser for three straight years. He has been a member of the International Committee since its inception and has been involved with many other facets of Rotary.