Sunday, January 26, 2020
To Carol and all the LaForest family,
It was with great sadness to hear of the death of my good friend sue. As I am in Florida for the winter, I am sorry that I will be unable join you for her celebration of life. It was a great honor to know Sue. As Nursing Supervisor of the Robert Warner Rehabilitation Center, Sue hired me in 1985 to be part of her nurse practitioner team to provide care to children with disabilities and their families.Thus began a wonderful career of professional fulfillment, personal satisfaction, and fun. Sue was a passionate, devoted, and caring advocate for our special children. She was dedicated to developing and advancing programs that would improve their lives, especially in her role as coordinator of the Spina Bifida Clinic. Sue, along with Peg Lenihan, her dear friend and our Rehab Social Worker, always encouraged our Rehab Staff to work tirelessly to serve our patients. She was always open to new programs and ideas, especially from her nurses. She would declare that we needed to have a meeting, ("nursing supervision" she called it), and off we would go down Hodge Street to Ambrosia or J.J.'s Pizza because Sue thought ideas and plans were best decided over lunch. Sue loved to socialize and was a wonderful hostess. She invited us to her summer campsite at Mountain Meadows or a visit to her lovely home on Summit Avenue. It was such a treat to experience her hospitality and to see her beautiful doll collection and her wondrous Christmas decorations.
Sue adored her family. She brought her beautiful mother to live with her in later years. I used to love listening to her tell of her days
working at the jigsaw puzzle factory. Sue always shared stories of her beloved nieces and nephews and their families. She also expressed great interest in the lives of her staff and their families, often offering encouragement and sharing in family joys. We shared a lot of laughs together and also cried together in sadness, especially and the illness and death of our good friend Peg Leniihan, and again at the news of the devastating stroke of our dear friend and nursing colleague, Nancy Lyon.
Sue was special person. I am grateful she had such a wonderful and supportive family to treasure. I am also grateful that she found a special friend in her tenant Hilda, who showed such devotion and support when her health failed these past few years.
And I am grateful to have had such a wonderful friend. The days shall always be brighter for me because she has passed through my life. With deepest sympathy,
Sincerely, Peggy Kelly
