Susan Kirtland

Deacon and longtime member of the Second Congregational Church of Jeffersonville, Susan Kirtland (nee Whitaker), passed peacefully at her home on Saturday, March 13, 2021 after a long battle with cancer, which she faced gracefully. She was surrounded by her loving husband Lance and her son Michael who sacrificed so much of his time to care for his Mom. Her family and friends are comforted that she is now at peace. Sue was born in Suffern, NY which is just over the border from New Jersey where she settled. After attending Catherine Gibbs Secretarial School she held several executive assistant positions in the corporate world. Sue and Lance married in 1984 and the couple chose a simpler, quieter life in Fletcher, VT where Sue developed her deep love of bird watching and nature. She continued her successful career with positions at Smugglers Notch Resort and the Vermont Farm Bureau and expressed her tremendous creativity in everything she did. Her jams and jellies were favorites both at home and at Lamoille County Field Days where she frequently took home the blue ribbon. For many years the fruits for her jams came from the family’s carefully tended garden in which she took great pride. Sue was predeceased by her brother Eddie Whitaker and both her parents before she passed. She is survived by her sister and brother-in-law Jackie and Brian Marsh of New York, her brother and sister-in-law Ryan and Kim Whitaker of New Jersey, Eileen Musella and husband Andy from Vermont, her goddaughter Kelly Hildago, many special nieces and nephews and two of the most special four legged friends anyone could have, Onni & Buddy. She will be sorely missed by her best friend of 35 years, Laura Miller who spent a lot of time with her. Sue’s family wishes to extend their heartfelt thanks to the Doctors and Nurses at UVMMC, and to all their friends, for all they did during Sue’s illness. The family requests that you not send flowers, but instead join the family in thanking Lamoille Health and Hospice and/or the Lamoille Area Cancer Network with a donation in Sue’s name. A private service will be held at a later date. She closed her Eyes Quieted her Pain and Ascended to a Beautiful Place