Lauren Sullivan, leader Jupiter senior foundation, passes away at age 26 from cancer

Lauren Sullivan 'exuded warmth, care and loving' to the older people served by the Pearl Mae Foundation

Bill DiPaolo Special to The Palm Beach Post

JUPITER — Lauren Sullivan, known for her dedication to helping seniors, her quirky craft skills and her passion for the outdoors, died from cancer Jan. 28, seven weeks before her wedding. The Jupiter resident was 26.

An Ocala native, Sullivan was the founding executive director of the Pearl Mae Foundation. The nonprofit, based at Indiantown Road and Whitney Drive, provides food and assistance for low-income seniors. It also offers scholarships to health-care and law-enforcement students.

“She exuded warmth, care and loving. We had a chat on my front door when she dropped off food. She was dedicated to helping people,” said Elaine Holtsberg, 80, remembering when Sullivan brought a bag of groceries to her Jupiter home several months ago.

A graduate of the University of South Florida, Sullivan was appointed to the top spot at the foundation in 2016. Being the boss did not stop her from getting into the nitty-gritty of fundraising and food distribution, said Debra Finnel, who was to be her mother-in-law.

The foundation is named after Finnel’s grandmother, who was a missionary along with her husband.

“Even while she was sick, she would call me from the car while she was delivering food. She told me she was sweating heavily, but she wouldn’t stop. She was answering the phone for the foundation up to a few days before she died.” - Debra Finnel

USF was where Sullivan met Lauren Thomsen, who was to be the maid of honor at her March 20 wedding. Thomsen said the two were so close that their friends called them “Lauren squared.”

“We were attached at the hip. I moved back to Jupiter because of Lauren,” said Thomsen.

Sullivan feared public speaking but soldiered through it to speak at fundraisers, one of which brought out Tyler Cameron, the Jupiter native who appeared on ABC's "The Bachelorette" and who is a longtime friend of Sullivan's fiancé, Zachary Finnel, 28.

She squeezed every dollar from the foundation's budget to help those in need. She would stop and chat with lonely seniors when she dropped off food.

An unrelenting fighter

“Even while she was sick, she would call me from the car while she was delivering food. She told me she was sweating heavily, but she wouldn’t stop. She was answering the phone for the foundation up to a few days before she died,” said Debra Finnel.

Sullivan and Zachary Finnel, a vice president for business development at the Jupiter health-care company Ilumed, met at USF. They planned their wedding at Up The Creek Farms, an outdoor waterfront venue on the Intracoastal Waterway in Brevard County.

“There’s big oak trees. A boat house. Just what Lauren wanted. We spent hours wedding planning,” said Finnel.

Sullivan’s cancer began with coughing about two years ago. She was diagnosed with follicular dendritic cell cancer, a rare blood disease that causes tumors around the heart and chest.

She endured chemotherapy and radiation. She underwent open heart surgery in November 2019.

“She exuded warmth, care and loving. We had a chat on my front door when she dropped off food. She was dedicated to helping people. - Elaine Holtsberg

“She was stable for six months. Then the cancer came back,” said Finnel.

Sullivan was determined to enjoy life despite the cancer. On the Saturday before she died, she attended a wedding shower, complete with an oxygen tank, at her Jupiter home with her mother, Lynn, and Zachary.

She also kept up her craft hobby.

Sullivan would sand down a cooler, then paint it with the recipient’s personality. A dog lover got a cooler painted with a golden retriever.

“Everybody wanted a gift from Lauren. She was so creative,” said Finnel.

Being longtime sweethearts, Sullivan was easily accepted into the Finnel family. Both she and Zachary were only children.

“They wanted a ton of kids,” said Finnel.