John Tullai

Dr. John Tullai, 91, of Surprise, AZ passed away on Thanksgiving morning 2022 at the Grandview Care Center in Sun City West, AZ.

Born and raised in Alden Station, PA on March 3, 1931, John resided there until 1943 when he moved with his family to Essington, PA (a suburb of Philadelphia) and graduated from Ridley Park High School in 1948. John enrolled at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA on a football scholarship. In 1950, he took a leave of absence to join the US Marine Corps, serving at various stations during the Korean War and receiving a field commission on the front lines. After his honorable discharge in 1954, he returned to Franklin and Marshall College where he completed a BS in biology and met and married Sarah (Sally) Seiple in 1955.

The couple lived in Drexel Hill, PA while John attended Hahnemann University Medical School in Philadelphia. An incredibly motivated and hard worker all of his life, he held down many and varied jobs while studying to achieve his goal of becoming a physician—no job was beneath him. Upon his graduation in 1959, he and Sally moved to Youngstown, OH where he completed his internship and residency at St. Elizabeth Hospital and served on the staff as an anesthesiologist. They returned to PA in 1964 and lived in the Wallingford/Media area where they raised their three children. As an anesthesiologist, John covered three hospitals including Crozer Chester Medical Center in Upland, PA until his retirement in 1991.

After retirement, John and Sally moved to West Chester, PA and spent summers at their home in Sea Isle City, NJ. They decided to head west to Surprise, AZ in 2011 and moved into The Colonnade Retirement Community in Sun City Grand where they enjoyed life to the fullest.

John was devoted to his family and shared with them his many diverse interests and talents including travel, golf, skiing, camping, boating, gardening, woodworking/woodcarving, reading, and building and operating radio-controlled model airplanes, helicopters, and drones. He was a member of the Springhaven Country Club in Wallingford, PA, the American Model Association (Prop Stoppers) and various medical associations, and in retirement, he joined the Sun City Grand Men’s Golf Club, the Desert Palms Men’s Golf Club, the Sun City Grand Woodworking Shop, and was active in the Desert Palms Presbyterian Church in Sun City West, AZ.

John is survived by his wife of 67 years, Sally, of Surprise, AZ, son John P. Tullai (Lisa) of Annapolis, MD, daughter Mary E. “Beth” Osborne (Chris) of Reno, NV, son Michael C. Tullai (Lisa Teves) of Albuquerque, NM, and six grandchildren: Ariana Tullai (Tom), Cara Tullai (Stephen), Ashley and Aaron Osborne, Daniel and Kaia Tullai. John’s sisters-in-law Twila Tullai of Chapel Hill, NC and Barbara Seiple of Philadelphia, PA, also survive him, as well as several nieces and nephews, and two step-grandchildren. He is predeceased by his parents Mary and Fred Tullai, his beloved sister Mitzi and baby grandson Sam. His brother Fred recently joined him in heaven.

A celebration of life will be held at Desert Palms Presbyterian Church, Sun City West, AZ on Saturday, April 15th at 11:00 AM, followed by a reception lunch. A livestream of the service will be available through www.desertpalmschurch.com. From the bottom menu, select “watch on

Youtube”, then “Live”. Donations are welcome to the above-named church, The Colonnade Scholarship Fund, or Aspen Hospice, Glendale, AZ.