Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 February 1918 — LAST RITES HELD OVER DEAD CHAMPION [ARTICLE]

LAST RITES HELD OVER DEAD CHAMPION

The body of John L. Sullivan, one time heavyweight champion, was laid to rest beside that of his wife in old Calvary • cemetery, Forest Hills, Mass., Wednesday, after a ritual service held in the Roxburg distrct of Boston, where his early days were spent. Crowds lined the streets near the church and the church itself was filled to overflowing wth friends old and young, of the ring celebrity. A handful of. veterans of the sporting world, champions of Sullivan in his pugilistic career, and the men prominent in city and state affairs were in the gathering at the church, but the funeral was largely a neighborhood affair, made up of ■residents of the district. Jake Kilrain, principal in one of Sullivan’s celebrated battles, served as an usher, as did Jack Sheehan, a referee, with a few others of note in prize ring circles, but aside from this group there was little to suggest the prominence of the former pugilist in the sporting world.