More support for 'Ray Sullivan Field’ at Portsmouth High

Former classmates want turf field named after former coach, teacher

Jim McGaw
Posted 6/29/16

PORTSMOUTH — Apparently they had more to say.

Only two weeks after former players and students of the late Portsmouth High School teacher and coach Raymond C. Sullivan told the School …

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More support for 'Ray Sullivan Field’ at Portsmouth High

Former classmates want turf field named after former coach, teacher

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — Apparently they had more to say.

Only two weeks after former players and students of the late Portsmouth High School teacher and coach Raymond C. Sullivan told the School Committee they wanted the PHS turf field named after him, a handful of supporters reiterated their support Tuesday night.

At a meeting June 14, the committee voted to form a seven-member committee to study the issue, which will be revisited in August. Mr. Sullivan, a longtime teacher in the system and the school’s first football coach, passed away in December 2015 at the age of 80.

Five people spoke in favor of re-naming the field “Ray Sullivan Field” during the public comments portion of the meeting. Because the item was not on Tuesday’s agenda, committee members could not act nor comment on the matter under the state Open Meetings Act.

One of those to speak was former student Pat Lyons, who said Mr. Sullivan was a “full-time teacher and a part-time coach” who attended every single school function.

“As a teacher, he challenged every single one of us, she said. “He respected us and we respected him.”

Richard Matthews, the high school’s first quarterback, said Mr. Sullivan was tough but fair, and always had a life lesson to impart to students. He still remembers the tongue-lashing he got when the teacher caught him smoking between classes, telling Mr. Matthews that he couldn’t play on his team if he kept the habit up.

“His name deserves to be up on that field,” said Mr. Matthews.

PHS graduate Kim Kekligian Stamoulis, whose late father, Peter Kekligian, taught alongside Mr. Sullivan starting in 1963, said he was the type of person you’d want your children to emulate.

“It’s very rare to come across a teacher like Ray, who was so beloved that everybody was trying to get into his class. But if you weren’t in his class, he still knew who you were,” said Ms. Stamoulis, who went on to study at Boston College, Mr. Sullivan’s alma mater. “He gave to me a love of learning, a love of the high school and a love of my future college.”

Raymond J. Sullivan of Newport, one of Mr. Sullivan’s sons, said his father always stressed academics over athletics, and the numbers of people who have already spoken on his behalf is evidence of his lasting legacy.

“It’s not so much he was a coach or even the first coach,” he said of his dad. “It’s just that 50 years later, these guys still remember him.”

Ray Sullivan Field, Ray Sullivan, Portsmouth High School, Portsmouth School Committee, Raymond C. Sullivan

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Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.