Sue Delaney

Sue Delaney, a resident of Bayfield, has died at her home in Crowbar Creek. She was the mother of eight, grandmother of fourteen, aunt of twenty-two, and great-grandmother of two. She is also survived by her brother Jim Fitzgerald and his wife Terry of Bayfield, her sister Sally Rynne and her husband Terry, and Michael Fitzgerald of Chicago.

Born in Chicago, Ill., on December 16, 1932, to Bertram and Mildred Fitzgerald, she studied biology at Rosemont College and received her degree in 1954. She married Thomas Delaney in August 1954 and raised her eight children in DuBois, Pa. She received her Masters degree in counseling at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1978. She researched and wrote about women’s health issues for Women’s Healthcare Consultants in Evanston, Ill., from 1988–1997. She designed and built an adobe home in the HD mountains and moved to Bayfield in 1992. She was passionate about women’s issues, the right to death with dignity, and community responses to natural gas drilling.

She traveled extensively through Africa, Asia, Mexico, Central and South America, Europe and the US and collected art from all over the world. She loved horses, donkeys, dogs, cats and books. By the light of a full moon, and following a visit from a mysterious black cat (not seen before or since), she died of natural causes in her sleep, in her own bed, with her dog by her side.

Her family will host a celebration of her life from 2– 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 17, 2012, at her home at 1710 CR 525, Bayfield. Contributions in her memory can be made to the San Juan Citizens Alliance.