Alicia Sue Okamoto of Holland, PA passed away on September 16, 2018. She was 78. Born Alicia Sue Markley on February 1, 1940 in Easton, PA, she was the daughter of the late Edward and Lyda (Konn) Markley.
After graduating from Wilson High School in Easton in 1957, Sue attended Penn State University receiving a BA in The Arts (Magna Cum Laude) in 1961 and then earned her teaching certification from the University of Pennsylvania. She met her future husband, Robert H. (Bob) Okamoto at Penn State and they were married in 1961.
Sue taught art at Upper Moreland Junior High School until their first child, Mark, was born in 1965, with a second child, Neil, following in 1968. After raising her two boys and seeing them both go off to college, Sue resumed her career in art, this time as a painter and ultimately as a printmaker. Her prints have been exhibited widely from Massachusetts to Georgia. Her work was judged Best of Show at the Abington Art Center Annual Juried Show in 2003 and won First Prize at the American Color Print Society 59th Members Show at American College in 2005 and at the American Color Print Society Exhibition at The Philadelphia Sketch Club in 2006. In addition to her accomplishments in painting and printmaking, Sue was also a published poet, named Poet Laureate of Bucks County in 1997.
Sue’s hobbies included reading, gardening, shopping, and travel. She and her late sister, Carolyn, were avid opera fans, often traveling to New York City together to attend performances at the Metropolitan Opera. Sue and Bob owned a lakeside cabin in Rome, Maine for many years and enjoyed spending their summers boating and sightseeing throughout New England.
Sue is survived by her devoted husband, Robert H. Okamoto, her loving children, Mark R. Okamoto (Lisa Fox) and Neil E. Okamoto (Nancy Sampson) and her grandchildren: Evan, Claire and Jackson. Sue’s older sisters. Doris Markley Herb, Carolyn Markley Pokrivchak, and Beverly Markley Johnston passed away in 1988, 2014, and 1998 respectively.
Relatives and friends are invited to her memorial gathering, Saturday, September the 29, 2018 at the Lamb Funeral Home, 101 Byberry Road, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006, beginning at 10:00 AM followed by her Memorial Service at 11:00 AM and a luncheon immediately afterwards. Inurnment is private.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Donations may be made in Sue’s honor on her Tribute Page, using the following link: http://act.alz.org/site/TR/Events/Tributes-AlzheimersChampions?pxfid=514627&fr_id=1060&pg=fund or by mail to: Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Fl. 17, Chicago, IL 60601.
