Memories of My Aunt Sue Stahler July 18, 2014 Kit Stahler-Miller When I was a child, I remember how much I loved being around my Aunt Sue, even though the times were brief and infrequent. I was mesmerized by her. She was beautiful and looked like a porcelain doll and princess to me. She had a special way of dressing that was so nice. She had an air of mystery about her due to her quietness and just standing still most of the time, poised and watching people. She was famous for her quips. There was a sense that “all is well” in her family. I remember visiting all three of her homes in PA: Rosemont, Maple Glen, and Normandy Farms over the years. Of course, we must remember Maggie, the wonderful huge teddy bear of a sheep dog they had in Maple Glen. And the gardens at Maple Glen were spectacular. Life happened and I don’t remember being around her much as an adult until perhaps the last 15 years when we would visit at Normandy Farms for our requisite Thanksgiving visit, which was always brief and nice. I was always told that Aunt Sue was the historian in our family. This was during a time when I was not interested in history. However, Aunt Sue remembered everything and shared her memories easily as a storyteller, but only when prompted. When I retired, I had more space in my brain and curiously developed an interest and passion for history. I loved learning from Aunt Sue and Uncle Clay. It wasn’t until Gwinn wrote Aunt Sue’s Life History that I had any idea of ‘who Aunt Sue was throughout her life and her accomplishments’. What a wonderful woman … smart, athletic, thespian, president of her senior class at Packer Collegiate Institute; financially minded handling the family finances, fervent reader of the New Yorker (my childhood remembrance), an avid reader, and New York Times crossword puzzle and cryptogram enthusiast to name a few; incredibly organized; a leader who also organized her Packer class’s 50th reunion which involved travel abroad. She was interested in art and antiques, gardening, and studied library science later in life which she used in her volunteer work. She was spiritual and a Deacon in the Presbyterian Church. More attributes included cooking, sewing – being an expert seamstress, and knitting. What a remarkable cache of attributes. And since we have just learned this in 2014, we must surmise that this remembrance is but the mere tip of the iceberg of Aunt Sue’s breadth and depth as a person to her family, friends, and community in her wisdom, accomplishments and volunteer efforts. Simply put, she made the world a better place. I am so proud to learn about my Aunt Sue and would have loved to know her as an adult. I am grateful that I had an opportunity to spend more time with my Aunt Sue in the last year of her life. I miss her and will never forget her. What a wonderful role model.