Suzanne “Sue” Stevens
COOPERSTOWN — Suzanne “Sue” Stevens passed away Friday, Dec. 21, 2012.
Suzanne Whyte Gross was born in Cooperstown on May 7, 1918 and delivered by Dr. Mary Imogene Bassett at The Thanksgiving Hospital, now site of The Clara Welch Thanksgiving Home.
In 1922, she and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lora J. Gross, left Cooperstown and moved over 20 times, returning to Cooperstown in 1942. Mr. Gross was one of four gentlemen who, in the early 1920s, purchased a parcel of land which they then donated to the village. The property is now known as Doubleday Field.
Because of her father’s occupation, Sue attended 23 different schools, graduating from Berkeley (California) High School in 1936. She then attended The Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School in Chicago and Marjorie Webster Junior College in Washington, D.C.
Following the outbreak of World War II, she enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was stationed at the Naval Security Station, Washington, D.C., receiving a top secret clearance and assigned to decoding Japanese messages.
While in school and then stationed in Washington, she had the opportunity to assist both First Ladies, Eleanor Roosevelt and Bess Truman, with preparing Red Cross packages for servicemen overseas.
On June 20, 1945, she and Cooperstownian Edward (Wad) C. Stevens, were married at the Little Church Around the Corner in New York City.
In November 1945, following her honorable discharge, she returned to Cooperstown and worked for Aid to Dependent Children with the Welfare Office.
She was very proud to be charter member of the Sergeant Walter P. Eggleston VFW Post, a 31-year volunteer at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital, and volunteering with the Susquehanna SPCA and Pegasus 4-H Club. She served as a Girl Scout Leader, Cub Scout Den Mother, and was an active member of the Cooperstown Art Association. She was also a member and past president of the Criterion Club.
A wonderful mother to her children and extended families, daughter Joni Stevens and husband John Stevens of Williamsburg, Va.; son Tom Stevens and his wife, Laura, of Cooperstown and Punta Gorda, Fla., and their children Nicole Hager and husband Brandt, and two great-grandsons, Avery and Knox; Chris Stevens, Amanda Stevens and Scott Stevens; and daughter, Brenda Ayers, of Greenport and her children, Jen Ayers and Ben Ayers.
Her entire family is most grateful for the love, caring and support given to their mother and grandmother by the home care nursing staff and those associated with Hospice during her final days.
“Mama Sue” as she was affectionately known by her family and many friends, had a favorite poem which she proudly lived every day of her 94-plus years:
I Know Something Good About You
Wouldn’t this old world be better
If the folks we meet would say —
“I know something good about you!”
And treat us just that way?
Wouldn’t it be fine and dandy
If each handclasp, fond and true,
Carried with it this assurance —
“I know something good about you!”
Wouldn’t life be lots more happy
If the good that’s in us all
Were the only thing about us
That folks bothered to recall?
Wouldn’t life be lots more happy
If we praised the good we see?
For there’s such a lot of goodness
In the worst of you and me!
Wouldn’t it be nice to practice
That fine way of thinking, too?
You know something good about me,
I know something good about you!
Louis C. Shimon
At her request there will a family gathering in 2013. Please consider a donation to the Catskill Area Hospice and Palliative Care located at 1 Birchwood Drive, Oneonta, NY 13820.
Professional services have been entrusted to Tillapaugh Funeral Home.
