ORLANDO, FL — Wireless innovator Vernon E. “Buster” Sullivan, who was known for his decades-long association with Professional Wireless Systems, passed away peacefully at his home on July 9, 2022. He was 73.
Even from his young days in South Carolina, Sullivan had an interest in technology and electronics, starting out by taking apart radios as a child. He graduated from Brookland Cayce High School in Cayce, SC, followed by studies in engineering and math at Valencia College and the University of South Carolina. During the Vietnam War, he joined the U.S. Navy and received 68 weeks of advanced electronics training and worked as a cryptologic technician.
After the war, Sullivan left the navy and began a six-year stint as a technician/engineer with Repco, Inc., a leading supplier of parts and components for control systems and industrial motors. In 1982, he went on to work in the Orlando, FL area at a variety of companies involved in lasers, micro-engineering technologies and the burgeoning then-new market for peripherals in the computer industry.
In the 1990’s, Sullivan joined the growing team at Orange County-Florida-based Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) as a RF engineering technician and soon became a key player in the company. Founded by wireless legend James Stoffo (and now a Masque Sound Company), PWS is the only manufacturer of RF hardware that also provides design, deployment and coordination services for some of the most critical events in the world, ranging from complex, wireless-intensive productions such as the Super Bowl or Coachella Festivals, to installs at Disney, Universal, Cirque du Soleil and major cruise ships, to name a few.
During his nearly three decades with PWS, Sullivan held enormous pride in the designs he invented and was also very proud of his time working on multiple Super Bowls and being an essential part of Orlando’s arts and entertainment community — and beyond. Anyone who’s watched anything on television — from sports to music shows — has experienced Sullivan’s work.
Sullivan retired a few years ago, and spent much of his free time sailing and exploring the ocean off the Florida coast.
Vern Sullivan will long be remembered by his many friends and colleagues throughout the live event and broadcasting communities and will be missed by all. No funeral or memorial is set at this time, although his siblings Ken Sullivan and Silvia Sullivan plan to scatter his ashes in the ocean off the Florida coast — something we are all sure that Vern would have liked.
