Plan for the Future
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Sue was an extraordinary person, full of life and love who left us much too soon.
Sue was a “Jersey Girl”, born and raised in New Jersey. Born in Livingston, she started school in Springfield. The family moved to Chatham, where she attended elementary school. Her high school years were happily spent at Morristown-Beard School in Morristown.
At Mo-Beard, she loved playing on both the basketball and field hockey teams. She was more enthusiastic than athletically talented and earned the “most improved player” award from her field hockey coach. Sue joked that when you are the worst player on the team it’s not that hard to be “most improved.”
Sue served an Americorps year in Paterson after graduating from high school at the Morristown-Beard School. She worked in a school program that served underprivileged children and loved it. One of the outstanding things she did was to procure bicycles for all the kids in her program. She was at her best when dealing with children (or adults) who needed a little extra help of a little more love.
Sue finished her Bachelor’s degree in Education at American University in Washington, DC. At AU she played on the women’s ice hockey team. While she never scored a goal, or registered an assist (or even, we hoped, get a penalty so she would show in the team statistics!) she loved the camaraderie of her teammates. When driving with her teammates to games, she’d always insist that one of them had to pump gas, because “Jersey Girls don’t pump gas.”
When she returned to New Jersey after graduating from American U. she worked for a year in Paterson, again with underprivileged children. From there, she worked for two years at St. Leo’s in Irvington. At St. Leo’s she taught both pre-K and middle school – two very different experiences.
While she was working full time as a teacher, Sue earned a certificate in English as a Second Language (ESL) as well as a master’s degree in Special Education and a second master’s as a reading specialist. She was certified in seven content areas from pre-K through middle school.
After St. Leo’s she moved to Washington Township public schools in Morris County. She especially loved the 10 years she taught English as a Second Language (ESL). Her fellow teachers noted how she always went above and beyond with these children, helping to make sure they had gifts at Christmas, including making quilts for them. She made sure during Covid that these children had the computers and internet access they needed to attend remote school. She taught whole families of children and put her heart and soul into her work with them.
Education and children were her passion. One of her colleagues said that Sue would bring in balloons on the last day of school and make balloon animals for the children in her class. Another noted that “Sue was an amazing person who I enjoyed working side by side with. Sue had a heart of gold and a smile that always glowed. Her love of her students was evident and her passion for teaching was reflected through her dedication to those who were fortunate to be under her wing.”
From the time she was a child, Sue loved animals. While she had many pets, from parakeets to mice to green anoles, she especially loved dogs. She learned about the sad life of racing greyhounds while attending a program at St. Hubert’s and prevailed upon her parents to adopt a retired racer. As an adult, she adopted more dogs, always from an animal shelter. Her beloved 16-year old dachshund, Oscar, has ironically outlived her. A donation to St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center would be a lovely tribute to her memory.
In her free time, Sue was involved in many pursuits. She was a Mary Kay makeup consultant. She was an avid baker and cake decorator. Her beautiful cakes were legendary among her family and friends. She was constantly decorating and making improvements to her home.
She especially loved all sorts of crafting. Her craft nights were popular with her friends, some of whom had never done any crafting before. One friend remembered how Sue was the one to teach her to make Christmas ornaments. Another noted that Sue taught her to crochet.
She was perhaps the youngest member of the Quilter’s Guild. She made blankets or quilts for her friends and colleagues when they had babies. She made warm crocheted blankets or quilts to donate to the local homeless shelter. She volunteered for many projects, including Habitat for Humanity. Whenever anyone had an event, she baked a delicious confection to help celebrate. She was always one of the first to volunteer to help anyone who needed it, from elderly relatives who needed a ride or visit, to procuring clothes, furniture and athletic equipment for a group of Ukrainian refugees, to baking for friends who needed someone to think of them. She was always the one you could count on to pitch in and help with whatever was needed.
In 2022, she met Andy Sabella, her fiancé, who became the love of her life. They had a wonderful relationship and enjoyed so many activities together with their circle of friends. This was a joyous time in her life. We are so happy that they found each other, though their time together was far too short.
Sue was beloved by her parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and many others. She was a wonderful sister and had a close relationship with her brother Mike. She was beloved by her Thai sister, Nareena. She was loved by her German sister, Swantje, her Belgian sister, Magali, and her Hungarian brother, Peter.
In short, she was a wonderful person who will be sorely missed. The world was a better place with her in it.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Saturday, March 9, 2024 at 10 am at Wm. A. Bradley & Son Funeral Home, 345 Main St. Chatham, NJ. Visting hours, Friday, March 8, 2024 from 4 pm to 8 pm. In lieu of flowers donations in Susan’s name may be made to St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center, 575 Woodland Ave. Madison, NJ 07940. To send the family a condolence, please visit, www.bradleyfuneralhomes.com.
