Sue Carolyn Gregory (Suzie) 81, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, passed away peacefully on Saturday morning, February 6, 2021 at her home with her family after a hard fought battle with cancer. She was born in Houston, Texas on June 29, 1939 to Hubert and Nellie Gregory. The family moved to Austin, Texas in 1949, Suzie’s home for the next 44 years. She attended Austin High School and the University of Texas, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree.
In 1993, Suzie relocated to Santa Fe where she taught at St Michael’s Catholic High School. After 27 years of teaching, she retired in 2018. During her tenure she pursued advanced degrees in religious education and was recognized by the Buttimer Institute of Lasallian Studies and St. Mary’s College of California.
She led St Michael’s debate teams to many successful competitions, directed drama students in many wonderful plays and worked tirelessly to provide spiritual guidance and positive influence for all of her students. She was a devoted, spiritual, and loving mother, grandmother, and teacher who profoundly touched many lives and who left the world a more loving and grace filled place.
She is survived by her siblings; Mary Welsh, James Gregory and his wife Julie Walker; her children; Angela Kennedy and her husband Ed Kennedy, Katrina Johnson, Amy Stout, and Ivan Stout and his wife Chiaki Kasahara, and her grandchildren; Shelbie Loomis, Daniel Bassett and his wife Evelyn Bassett, Kathleen Bassett, Elizabeth Stout, Dorman Johnson, and Noah Stout.
A celebration of her life and service will be held on February 25, 2021 at 3:00 PM (MST), at Christ Church Santa Fe, 1213 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87505.
Please be sure to review the following COVID restrictions before attending the memorial service: http://christchurchsantafe.org/event-single/a-letter-from-our-pastors/
Flowers for the memorial service can be sent to the church for delivery on Feb. 25, 2021.
Sue was a donor to St. Jude’s Hospital. Donations to St. Jude’s in a quest for a cure to cancer is appreciated.
Please leave words of comfort and condolences for the family at the Rivera Funeral Home: http://riverafamilyfuneralhome.com/obituaries/
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About |
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| Name | Sue Carolyn Gregory |
| Date of Birth | June 26th, 1939 |
| Date of Death | February 6th, 2021 |
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Memorial |
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| Funeral Home | Rivera Family Funeral Home - Santa Fe | |
| Address |
417 Rodeo Road Santa Fe NM 87505 United States |
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published a tribute .
Letter to My Sister
Dear Suzie,
There are so many things I have to thank you for I hardly know here to begin. In fact, you have been the single most important person in my life, and have in large part influenced me to be the person am today!
As your little brother, my knowledge of you spans my whole life. Our life together as kids, as college students, and as adults, has been one of loving and the intensity of two strong spirts.
Memory is like a long hotel hallway disappearing into the far distant past with some of the room doors a bit ajar, some closed up and locked, while others are flung all the way open.
It is the nature of our minds that some things stand out as if they happened just a moment ago, while others are veiled in the gathering mist of the past and most are gone and forgotten.
So, when I think of you now, I think of you in many different places, at many different ages, dressed in many different clothes, and doing many different things. For instance,
I was just thinking of you feeding the chipmunks in Colorado on our first trip there as kids in Dad's old Woody station wagon. You were so patient, and excited to have them eat right from your hand!
And then the time when you spent most of the summer at the Methodist camp just outside of Estes Park Colorado and Mom and Dad and myself all came up for a couple of weeks and stayed in that cabin by the Big Thompson River. What fun we had hiking up old jeep trails and driving on Trail Ridge Road!
But one of the strongest memories I have of you is the time you pulled me out of the Terry Town Baptist Church. I have this memory, that the church congregation was voting whether or not to accept, as members of the church, the African American janitor and his family. When the church voted not to permit them to join because they were African American and not White, you reacted with disgust at their bigotry and pulled me out of there, leaving Mon and Dad. You then took me with you each Sunday and we started attending the English Lutheran
Church...where I learned how to kneel at the pew and drink wine from a common cup...unheard of in the Southern Baptist Church at the time.
That started me on my own journey of discovery of religions, human rights, and the importance of treating all people with dignity and respect which led both of us to the Presbyterian Church at the University of Texas. When people ask me about my religion, I tell them I started near the front of the alphabet with the Baptist denomination and worked my way all the way through to the last letter, Zen Buddhism.
What heady times those were. You were interacting with a small group of upperclassmen where you would hold special church services at night and practice high communion and ritual. You even invited me once to that special group even though I was just a freshman. And I was busy trying to go to school, but mostly organizing civil rights demonstrations and working out of the second floor of the church. We were both being very relevant to our times and we were young and full of energy to change the world we lived in to make it a more just place for everyone no matter what race or religion they were.
And then of course, there was the Italian trip Julie, you and I took together and your singing to Julie and me at the restaurant after we sealed our engagement. That was one of the best times of my life and you gave that to me with such loving kindness I will never forget it.
I feel you are always with me. The spiritual bond we forged over all the years of growing up together and living our lives together and apart, will always be strong between us until the day I die.
And through all of that which we call our lives, my connection to you through the spirit of love, respect, and kindness has only grown stronger. Your good influence on my life is ever present even to this day, and although you may be gone from our presence now, I will respect and honor you for the rest of my life. You are and will always be my Big Sister Soul Mate and my love for you will continue forever.
published a comment .
I loved working with Sue at St. Mike's. I remember her as such a kind and loving lady. God bless her and keep her. Prayers and hugs for her family.
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published a tribute .
I have such great memories teaching with Sue at St Mike's for several years. I fondly remember our trip to New Orleans soon after Sue had broken her leg in Hawaii. She was determined to go to the Theology Dept. seminar, no matter what. So I guided her through the airport in her wheel chair, as best I could. We laughed about that experience for a long time afterwards. She is in heaven now, teaching the angels.
published a comment .
My family and the Gregory family were neighbors in Austin in the late 1950s. Our families and other families in the neighborhood got together often for covered dish suppers and for evening cookouts at a well-known springs and park in Austin. I was a friend and playmate of her younger brother Skip and often was around Susie (as she was known to us). Although I have not seen or spoken with her in 60 years, she remains, and will remain, a person in my memory of consistent kindness, sweetness and cheerful humor.
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published a tribute .
I was so impressed, always, by Sue's generosity to her students. She gave up so many weekends to take the speech and debate students to competitions. Her dedication far out-stripped the compensation she received. Her commitment was an inspiration to me and to many others at St. Mike's.
published a comment .
Aunt Sue was always so kind to me. She was generous with her time and energy when it came to teaching me music. I'll never forget the time I coerced her into helping me figure out the chords to a Pink Floyd song (we almost got it right, too!). Her laugh was infectious. Anyone who knew her knew how much family meant to her and how much she loved her children. I cherish the memories I have of the time I got to spend with her in Austin, Colorado, and New Mexico. Much love to my cousins Angela, Katrina, Amy, and Ivan at this time of grief but also of celebration of a beautiful life lived to its fullest.
published a comment .
I will always remember Sue as a kind and loving spirit who loved her family and friends deeply. I’m sorry for the loss but also believe she lived a full and meaningful life.
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