Susan Fulkerson O'Connor

Susan Fulkerson O’Connor, most recently of Cockeysville, Maryland, went home to the Lord peacefully on March 29, 2025, surrounded by family after a brief but inspirational battle with pancreatic cancer.

Susan, the oldest child of Cecil and Betty Ashworth Fulkerson, was born on April 7, 1941, in Moundsville, West Virginia. Following her early childhood years in Moundsville, her father’s position with Hazel Atlas Glass took her to Baltimore, Maryland followed by a move to Charlotte, North Carolina and then a return to the Baltimore area just prior to her junior year of high school. Susan was a proud 1959 graduate of Towson High School where she met many lifelong friends and her future husband, Bill.

Susan attended Wake Forest University where she majored in English and French, chaired the Honor Council, was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1963. She married William (Bill) Harvey O’Connor, III on November 30, 1963, and they spent 53 happy years together until Bill’s death in 2017. Susan was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at Johns Hopkins University, where she earned a master’s degree in English.

Bill and Susan’s early years together were spent in Hanau, Germany while Bill served on active duty in the US Army and where their daughter Elizabeth was born in 1966. Susan always looked back on those years with very fond memories. In 1966, Susan returned to Towson, Maryland when Bill resumed his engineering position with Black and Decker. They celebrated the birth of their son John in 1968. Susan and Bill lived in Rogers Forge until Bill’s job resulted in several moves over the decades back and forth between Maryland and North Carolina. After a final move in 1986, Susan lived in Maryland for the remainder of her life.

Over the course of her teaching career, Susan taught English in a variety of settings, including the Army Education Center in Germany, Fayetteville (NC) Technical Institute, and Harford (MD) Community College, where she taught both traditional English courses and transitional courses for students who needed additional preparation for college courses. She particularly enjoyed teaching adult learners and individuals with English as a second language.

Susan was committed to volunteer service and giving back to every community where she lived. She participated in the League of Women Voters, a garden club, and a homeowner’s association, using her writing talent to edit all their newsletters. She served as a Girl Scout leader and a Cub Scout den mother. Following her retirement from teaching, her volunteer activities included many roles with Holy Communion Lutheran Church in Fallston, Maryland including treasurer, chair of the finance committee, and church council.

After moving to Broadmead in January 2021, she quickly became engaged in multiple aspects of the community, serving as an assistant manager of the Old and New Shop, chairing the Hear Here committee, playing duplicate bridge, teaching beginner’s bridge, and participating in several book groups.

Susan loved to travel and did so extensively with Bill, her children, close friends, and other family members across the United States and Europe. She was an avid reader and enjoyed attending Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concerts, Center Stage, and Everyman Theater productions.

Susan cherished her family and friends and was a loving and proud mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and devoted wife, teaching her family the values of kindness, faith, optimism, and unconditional love. She was a welcoming and kindhearted person of genuine warmth, always on the lookout for the needs of others, frequently offering encouragement and words of affirmation. She made the world a better place. Even in the face of challenges, she lived out one of her favorite quotes from Marcus Aurelius (which hung on the refrigerator for many years): “Your life is what your thoughts make it.”

Susan is survived by her daughter Elizabeth O’Connor Seely (spouse Collin) of Columbus, OH; son John O’Connor (spouse Tiffany) of Darien, CT; grandchildren Kristen, Faith, and Daniel Seely (spouse Kyla) and Catherine and Clara O’Connor; sister Dee Carter (spouse Kent) of Houston, TX; sisters-in-law Sharon O’Connor of Annapolis, MD, Dale O’Connor Newhart (spouse Chip) of Annapolis, MD; brother-in-law Robert O’Connor (spouse Jan) of Beaufort, SC; five nieces and nephews; eleven great nieces and nephews; and multiple cousins.

Relatives and friends may gather at the Schimunek Funeral Home of Bel Air, 610 West MacPhail Road, Bel Air, MD 21014 on Friday, April 4 from 2 – 5 pm. A memorial service will be held in the auditorium of Broadmead retirement community, 13801 York Road, Cockeysville, MD 21030 on Saturday, April 5 at 10:30 am followed by a light lunch for all attending. Interment will be at Druid Ridge Cemetery 7900 Park Heights Avenue, Pikesville, MD 21208 at 1:30 pm.

If desired, contributions may be made to one of the following: Maryland Food Bank, 2200 Halethorpe Farms Road, Baltimore, MD 21227, https://mdfoodbank.org/donate;

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, https://Pancan.org/site/donation;

Broadmead “Friends Helping Friends” (emergency grants to team members experiencing financial hardship due to crisis or unforeseen situation) Check payable to Broadmead, Inc with memo note “In memory of Susan O’Connor” or on-line at https://www.broadmead.org/giving.html