Susan
loved her family very much. She is survived by her mother, two sisters
and two daughters, as well as aunts, uncles, cousins and many friends,
to whom Susan was family.
Here
is a letter from Susan's sister Wilda, speaking for the entire family.
To all of Susan's
friends, relatives and readers/contributors of her wonderful website:
Gilda/Wilda
and Sarah, her sisters, and Pamela and Camille, her daughters, wish
to thank each of you for your celebration of Susan. Susan has been
a part of our lives from our beginnings and her death has been devastating.
We each had many, many special plans for our on-going lives with
Susan. Sarah & Gilda expected her to lead the way, with red
hat and purple dress, into our pending senior years. We knew we
would never want for causes or for purpose with Susan's social conscience
nor for fun & even danger in the great outdoors. (Susan thought
you should sing to a rattlesnake when it came across your path to
commune with its spirit. Gilda was quite certain you should jump
sky high and fly in terror.)
We are a close
family, and Susan was a very major part of our lives albeit often
at loggerheads with those of us rather run of the mill types. She
was brilliant, talented, driven by demons, artistic and radical.
Jail and frequent challenges to all authorities, that made our skins
crawl with worry, characterized her life as did generosity and deep
concern for those less fortunate. But she was our Susan and none
of us deviated in our love for her.
Susan did many,
many wonderful things in her life and contributed to the well being
of so many from her efforts and from her genuine friendships, but
perhaps Susan was most of all a magnificent daughter. Susan, in
her younger years gave her parents a merry chase, but she was always,
always there for them. She would never not be in touch, treasured
her time with them and always made time for them. As our mother
grew older and more fragile, Susan was her most tireless advocate,
her protector and her very dear friend. I am quite sure there has
never been a better daughter in the world. The quality of her love
was simply superior. Our Mother has not been told of Susan's death
as we know there would be no recovery for her. We know Susan would
simply not want us to cause Mother this unrelenting, final pain.
From our time
in Austin during those terribly sad days after Susan's death, each
of us was strengthened by the quality of friendship and sympathy
Susan's friends displayed. The loyalty and support to Susan's memory,
to her causes and to her family showed us the deepest beauty of
Susan's life. We cherish the support given to us and hope that we
may stay in touch and continue to share Susan stories and inspiration
for a long time to come.
For those of
you interested in Susan's causes and hard work, I know you will
join with us in being eternally grateful to the UT Barker History
Library, Center for Social Justice for collecting her research materials
and papers for future cataloguing and display in their collection.
Her work will be able to contribute to the work of others also interested
in fighting nuclear power, ending the death sentence, and in greening
America.
We, Susan's
family, no longer have to worry about her well being but fervently
wish we did.
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