Susan Jean Everett, 64

CLAYTON - Susan Jean Everett, passed away Thursday, June 18, 2009, in Mat-Su Regional Hospital, Wasilla, Alaska, following a brief illness. She was 64. She was born Jan. 18, 1945, in Eagle Lake, Fort Kent, Maine, the daughter of Charles and Mary Nicholson Sprague. She lived in Oakfield, Maine, until the age of 20 and graduated from Oakfield High School. She was a laboratory technician for the Delaware Hospital for the Chronically Ill and later, for the Division of Public Health and retired from the state in 2008. She was a member of the Dover Elks. Susan loved Maine and spent time there every summer in a cabin built by her parents on Pleasant Pond, Island Falls. She enjoyed spending time with family and friends, dancing and country music, antiquing, fairs and festivals and traveling. At the time of her death, she had just completed a trip with her sister and brother-in-law, starting in Texas, visiting Mexico and traveling all the way up through the United States, into Canada and then by ferry to Alaska. In the two months preceding her death, she got to barter in Mexican open-air markets, cross the Rio Grande , see the prairies and plains of the Midwest, visit Mount Rushmore, the Dances With Wolves location, travel the Yukon and the mountains of British Columbia. Her family will be forever grateful that she was able to take her long-awaited trip as she enjoyed every second of it. She was a wonderful mother and grandmother, sister and friend, and will forever be in our hearts. She was preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Mary Nicholson Sprague; a sister, Mary Ann Edwards of Maine; and her devoted canine companion, Daisy. She is survived by two daughters and a son-in-law, Holly and Robert Overmyer of Camden, and April Burris of Clayton; three grandsons, Robbie and Ethan Overmyer, and Wesley Burris; granddaughter, Amber Avers; sister and brother-in-law, Charlene and Clayton Hardy of Livingston, Texas; niece and nephew, Ellen Hardy Morse (Peter) of Ansonia, Conn., and Frank Hardy of Wasilla, Alaska; and two great-nephews, Devin and Morgan Morse. In addition, she leaves wonderful friends Helen Estes, Janice Agan, and BJ Scott, as well as a host of friends and cousins. A Celebration of Susan's life will be 11 a.m. Thursday, July 2, at the Dover Elks Club on Saulsbury Rd., Dover. Attendees are asked to wear bright colors in her memory and if anyone has stories of Susan they would like to share at the service, the family would welcome that. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions in Susan's memory to the Dover Elks 1903, 200 Saulsbury Rd., Dover, DE 19904; or the Kent County SPCA, 32 Shelter Circle, Camden, DE 19934.