R. Joe Sullivan

Joe Sullivan, 79, a career newsman from Southwest Missouri, died Feb. 27, 2025, after a short illness.

Sullivan got his start in journalism after graduating from William Jewell College in Liberty, joining The Kansas City Star before eventually moving on to the Wall Street Journal as a reporter in Dallas. After a move to New York City for the Journal didn’t prove to be a good lifestyle fit, Sullivan moved to Moscow, Idaho, where he became editor of the Moscow-Pullman Daily Mail.

After a few years in Idaho, Sullivan returned to Missouri as editor of the Nevada Daily Mail. He moved among several publications in Missouri, as well as served a stint as publishing editor of the Topeka Capital-Journal in Kansas.

Sullivan’s last role in the newsroom was editor of the Southeast Missourian in Cape Girardeau, which he joined in 1994. He retired in September 2010, writing in his last column for the newspaper, “Count the day lost that you haven’t done something you like.”

He is survived by two sons, Jason and Brendan; and many more friends and colleagues in Missouri and throughout the country.