Abraham Brendan Sullivan

Apr 30, 1992 -

Mar 5, 2025

Abraham Brendan Sullivan, age 32, died suddenly on Mar. 5, 2025, in Anchorage. Born Apr. 30, 1992, Abe was raised in Kodiak and graduated from Kodiak High School in 2010. A lifelong commercial fisherman, he began his career as a toddler dodging jellyfish in his parents' salmon setnet skiffs in Uganik Bay, on Kodiak Island, and by age six was alerting green crewmembers on the differences between sockeyes and chums. At 11 he was a full share setnet crewman, and was running skiffs at 13. He fished in Uganik with his family until going to Bristol Bay when he was 16 to salmon fish for Kavik Anderson. Kavik and Abe became close friends.

After that season Abe told friends and family the Bay was where it was at- "It's all reds, and they have hydraulics." He never looked back. Abe fished on deck for Kavik for another seven years before buying his own drift net permit in 2017, and his boat, the Fish Trap, in 2018. A master fisherman, he was born for the work. The Fish Trap was high boat in Bristol Bay in 2024.

In 2016, Abe also began running the Alaskan Star for owner James Stevens, using pots to catch cod around Kodiak Island and then in the winter Bering Sea. He was a highliner in that fishery too.

Abe was famous for his intense work ethic, his talent for finding fish, and his love and respect for his crewmembers, many of them childhood friends. He was known for his high spirits and adventurous nature, for riding ATVs and snow machines to excess, for losing sunglasses and destroying cell phones. But he navigated the Bering Sea and the rivers of Bristol Bay deliberately, and was careful with the boats he ran and with the safety of the people who worked for him.

Abe traveled widely between fishing seasons, from Bali to Europe and Central America and Hawaii and East Asia. He was a kind and generous man who made friends wherever he went. His Alaskan Star crew called him "boat dad."

Abe and Baylee Reid fell in love in 2022 and became engaged last year. Their daughter Gwyneth was born Feb. 27, 2025, in Anchorage, with Abe by Baylee's side.

Abraham is survived by fiancé, Baylee Reid and daughter, Gwyneth Elaine Sullivan of Eagle River, Alaska; father, Toby Sullivan; and mother, Suzanne Abraham of Kodiak, Alaska; favorite and only sister, Jordan Sullivan of Anchorage, Alaska; numerous uncles, aunts and cousins in the Sullivan and Abraham families; by Baylee's father Greg Reid and brother Blake Reid; and by his dog Maggie.

A gathering to remember Abraham and celebrate his life will be held Apr. 19, from 3 to 6 p.m., at the Afognak Center on Near Island in Kodiak. Cards and flowers can be sent to 17710 Teklanika Dr, Eagle River, Alaska 99577.

As Abe wished, his ashes will be scattered to the wind in the coming months; in Bristol Bay by Kavik Anderson, on Denali by his friend Tallis Andreson, in the mountains above Eagle River and in Uganik Bay by his family. Abe's spirit will live forever in those places and in the hearts of those who knew him.