Inez King Sullivan, 98 of Frostproof, Florida, passed away Saturday, May 12, 2018 at her residence on Silver Lake.

She was born November 6, 1919 in Waresboro, Georgia to the late Roy and Pearl Louise (Roberts) King and she has been a lifelong resident of this area. She was a homemaker and a member of the First Baptist Church of Frostproof.

Inez moved with her family to Frostproof when she was five years old. Her father died of tuberculosis several years later, leaving Inez’s mother to raise three daughters: Inez, Mary, and Elizabeth, and a son, Charles. Inez was educated in Frostproof schools and received many honors while in high school, including being selected as vice-president of her graduating class and being named the classmate with the sweetest disposition and the best looks. Her classmates prophesied that she’d be secretary to Henry Ford and declared that she’d one day become the secretary to the President of the United States. She played basketball four years and was named captain of the girls’ basketball team, and because of her stunning looks, was chosen to be Queen of the May Dance. She also played the role of Beatrice in the junior class play, “Who Wouldn’t Be Crazy?” After graduation, Inez enrolled in Tampa Business School and received certification as a stenographer, then began working as a secretary for H. C. Sullivan’s canning plant business. As, the proverbial story goes, she married the boss’s son, Victor, who was also involved in the canning plant operation.

Inez once said that she never worried about distinctions in “roles,” and her lifetime vocation has been as wife and mother to five children, grandmother to thirteen grandchildren, great grandmother to twenty-seven and great-great grandmother to four. However, she gained valuable experience and became a discerning businesswoman by doing the paperwork for her husband Victor when he ran a picking crew and, later, by assisting him with his orange grove operation. She also helped Victor manage a cattle operation, often putting the Sullivan children in a jeep (even infants) and driving out to a pasture to feed the cows. After Victor died, Inez became President of the newly-formed Central Ridge Corporation and, as chief administrator, supervised the orange grove/cattle business, Inez remained on the board of Central Ridge Corporation, working alongside her children and grandchildren, sharing valuable insights and experiences about the operation of a successful orange grove/properties business.

Inez traveled throughout the United States and abroad, accompanying her husband Victor on worldwide agricultural missions that were sponsored by Secretary of Agriculture, Doyle Conners, to Asia, Europe, Hawaii, and other countries. She played on many golf courses along the way, but her favorite course was at the Lake Wales Country Club. She was a lifelong member of Frostproof First Baptist Church, served as president of Women’s Missionary Union at this church, and was a member of the Building Committee for the construction of the First Baptist Church sanctuary in Frostproof, which is now used as the Church’s educational building. She also achieved the designation of Worthy Matron in the Eastern Star religious organization.  As a member of the Woman’s Club of Frostproof, she contributed family recipes and helped compile the cookbook “Favorite Recipes of the Frostproof Woman’s Club,” which is now in its third printing.

Inez was a woman who didn’t need wrinkle cream or magic pills to remain handsome, alert, and full of spirit, and her grandchildren often told her they wanted to be like her when they marked their 98th.  She was an active golfer until several years ago and made fishing trips with her niece Phyllis and nephew George even in her 80’s, whenever and wherever they could find a good place to cast.  She’s was skilled at cleaning fish as she was at catching them and was still wielding a skinning knife up until ten years ago. She built a pier on Silver Lake, in front of her property, for her children and grandchildren and kept poles and line on the back porch for family members or friends who wanted to wet a line.

A voracious reader, Inez claimed that she read every book in the Frostproof Library when she was growing up.  Her sister Mary related that Inez often swept the floors, holding a broom in one hand and a book in the other.  She loved a good read and kept a “pass along” library for family and friends that ranged from biography to thrillers, but she had a certain preference for romantic novels. She was a quiet good listener and had an entertaining quick wit.

After retirement from her position as President of Central Ridge, Inez took a cruise to Alaska and traveled statewide; included yearly visits to the King family reunions in Waresboro, Georgia, her birthplace.  Her biggest joys in life are visits from her large flock of children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great grandchildren and regular bridge games with lifetime friends. She was known for her hospitality and ability to put together a spread in a matter of minutes when hungry family members showed up at her door for a meal such as fried fish, grits, and her famous slaw.  For many years, she organized an annual Thanksgiving cook-out, hauling food, cooking gear, and special dishes like swamp cabbage (a Florida specialty which she personally chopped up with an axe and cooked) to Grass Creek, several miles away from Frostproof. This family get-together included immediate family, cousins, uncles, aunts, and many tagalongs.

She had a green thumb and tended prize pineapple plants growing on the grounds of her property. A keen bird watcher, she kept a pair of binoculars in the den where she could watch wildlife feeding on Silver Lake.

Inez’s friends recognized her as an enduring, competent woman, and said she lived a life straight out of Proverbs: “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.”  Her secret to “achievement in living,” simply put, was: “I take each day as it comes and live it fully and have always accepted the bad along with the good.”

Inez is preceded in death by her husband, Victor H. Sullivan in 1991.

Survivors include her daughters, Victoria I. Sullivan of Sewanee, TN, Elaine Littleford of Winter Haven, Nancy E. Sullivan of Galloway, OH, Mary Ruth Wilson of Frostproof; son, Paul S. Sullivan of Avon Park, FL; 13 grandchildren, 27 great grandchildren and 4 great great grandchildren.

Visitation will be held Saturday, May 19, 2018 from 2:00 PM until service time at 3:00 PM at the First Baptist Church of Frostproof with Rev. Darrol Hood officiating. Interment will be held at the Silver Hill Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to Good Shepherd Hospice, 105 Arneson Avenue, Auburndale, FL. 33823.

Condolences may be sent to the family and the webcast may be viewed at www.marionnelsonfuneralhome.com.