Suzanne Clum Joffray

Suzanne Clum Joffray, 93, of Old Lyme, Connecticut, passed peacefully on December 17, 2025. She was born on October 2, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Woodworth Bernhardi Clum and Minna (Vann) Clum.

Sue grew up in southern California, in La Habra and Beverly Hills. In La Habra Sue lived on a 23-acre avocado farm and orange grove. In Beverly Hills, she was surrounded by Hollywood movie stars. Elizabeth Taylor was in her second-grade class. She attended Fullerton Union High School, Stanford University (BA in Speech and Drama), and Wesleyan University (MALS in Modern Dance and Movement). She received an honorary Doctorate from the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts.

Sue met the love of her life, Donald “Don” Joffray, while visiting her aunt and uncle in Maryland. Her Uncle was the captain of the USS Norris Navy destroyer on which Don served. Don swept Sue away from her comfortable California upbringing to a small-town life in New England. For 64 years, they were inseparable: an active, devoted couple with many talents and a wide circle of friends.

Sue and Don spent 49 wonderful years living on the beautiful campus of Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Connecticut. They were surrounded by a close group of faculty who were lifelong friends and students who boarded on campus. For over thirty years Sue was both a teacher and administrator. She taught typing and dance and worked in the Admissions and Alumni Offices. She served as an assistant and goalie coach for the girl’s first varsity soccer team.

Sue was an amazing mother who took care of a busy household of three boys, a husband, their beagles, and their crow Edgar Allan Crow. A special joy for Sue was becoming the grandmother of her four wonderful grandchildren. She became and remained very close to each one. In summers, the family traveled to their A-Frame cabin which they built on Deer Isle Maine overlooking Penobscot Bay with gorgeous sunrises and views looking out to Mount Desert Island on Acadia National Park. The family loved the rustic lifestyle, away from it all digging clams, collecting mussels and scallops, picking berries, and bartering blueberry pies for the lobsters from a passing lobsterman. Sue, Don, and the boys loved sailing and kayaking around the nearby pink granite and spruce islands.

Sue and Don later bought a lake house on West Hill Pond, where they sailed, paddled, swam, and shared easy days with wonderful neighbors. Sue would run the 3-mile hilly loop around the lake. Each spring break, the family traveled to Kauai, where Sue painted tropical scenes and Don surfed Hanalei Bay.

Sue and Don retired to Old Lyme, CT in 1999, where she devoted many years to painting the local landscapes and seascapes alongside friends from the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts. She served as a valued member of the Academy’s Trustees well into her 90s. She was also an accomplished artist whose work spanned multiple mediums. Her paintings are proudly displayed in the homes of family and friends.

In addition, Sue attended St. Ann’s Church, a big part of her life was attending church services, Bible Study and working on the Garden Committee. In her later years, Sue volunteered along with her dear friends at St Ann’s Church consignment shop, The Nearly New. Her sharp eye for the condition of incoming garments earned her the nickname “Hawkeye.”

Sue and Don were avid bird watchers, feeding and housing thousands of birds over the years. Many different bird species including some rarities she logged outside her window. Don helped build an osprey platform in the salt marsh below their house. Each year the ospreys returned to mate and produce offspring for them to watch through their scope for several months’ time.

Moreover, Sue and Don were enthusiastic supporters of the local jazz scene and spent many Wednesday nights enjoying the Pat Mitchell Band perform at the Mystic Steak Loft. A favorite family story is Sue and Don once flew home from Hawaii and went directly to Mystic to see a show. For over twenty years, they were patrons of the Goodspeed Opera House while enjoying their off-Broadway shows.

Sue is survived by her two sons, Rexford Joffray and his wife Deborah of Crystal Lake, Connecticut, and Jeffrey Joffray and his wife Jennifer of Charleston, South Carolina, and her grandchildren Jesse, Kalina, Luka, and Kaia Joffray. Sue was predeceased by her husband, Donald Marshall Joffray, and her son, Donald Marshall Joffray Jr.

A memorial service for Sue will be held this Spring. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made in her memory to St. Ann’s Church in Old Lyme or the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Old Lyme.