Sue Strunce Brown, 85
DOVER - Sue Strunce Brown died June 14, 2022 at Kent General Hospital.
She was christened "Nancy Sue" by her parents, the late Margaret and F. Joseph Strunce of Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ. They used only her middle name, something she continued throughout her life except on legal documents.
Sue was a voracious reader, a habit abetted by the Avon Public Library, Avon Elementary and Asbury Park High Schools, and Simpson College in Iowa, where she met her future husband Paul Brown. Favorite topics: historical novels with emphasis on England, mysteries and an occasional romantic novella.
Sue was politically involved, beginning in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as a Democratic Party precinct captain in the '60s and as an official poll worker in later years. She was also a fervent anti Vietnam War critic who peppered the Nixon and Johnson White Houses with telegraphed messages often in groups of three, signed variously "Sue," "Nancy" and "Mrs. Paul" Brown to increase the count of separate negative comments. Her declining health prevented her from antagonizing the recent ex-president, but if she could have, she would have.
Sue was highly creative, especially with a needle or sewing machine. She sewed many of the clothes for her two daughters, Judith and Laura, including prom gowns and wedding dresses. Halloween costumes were a specialty, and she constructed wardrobes for the St. Andrew's Players, a parish theatre company in which she also acted. Moving to Scranton, PA, in the 90s, she created a group of large Raggedly Ann or Andy dolls for sale at the Senior Craftsman Shop, turning the living room into an assembly line of body parts and red yarn wigs.
Sue had compassion for those who needed help. With her husband and daughters, she applied to Child and Family Services to become licensed foster parents in Michigan, asking for older children. The family welcomed a several placements, all but one were teen-aged girls avoiding the stigma of unwed motherhood (this was 50 years ago) in their home towns by "disappearing" for nine months.
Sue loved the beach. Until her marriage in 1960, she never lived further than a few blocks from the Atlantic Ocean. She was married and her first daughter was born on the Jersey Shore. She made frequent visits to the beach and in recent years she would rent a large beach house to fill with extended family and friends for a week of laughter and sunburn at Virginia Beach or Wildwood.
Sue loved and was loved by many but none more than her immediate family: daughter and son-in-law Judith and Al Schmidt, daughter and daughter-in-law Laura Brown and Anne Sartori, all of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, and her husband of 62 years Paul L. Brown of Dover, Delaware.
A memorial service is scheduled at Christ Episcopal Church in Dover on Friday, July 1, 2022 at 11 a.m. It will be streamed on Facebook Live and You Tube. A reception will follow the service in the Parish Hall. Memorial gifts in lieu of flowers may be made to Christ Church, PO Box 1374, Dover, DE 19903. At her request, Sue's ashes will be scattered in the Atlantic Ocean off Shark River Inlet, joining those of her parents and younger brother.
To send letters of condolence, view the full obituary and sign the guestbook, visit www.torbertfuneral.com