Susan Brenner Peters

Children were Sue’s calling and her joy. Even as a child of only age five, Sue would arrange her dolls in neat rows facing her in a room and deliver mock lessons, making sure to play the caring, giving teacher. That passion for teaching and working with children carried her through to her career—thirty-three years of kindergarten teaching in Wake County.

Sue would frequently mention that though teaching was hardly a lucrative profession, compensation was never only a monetary concept. Rather than a higher figure on her paycheck, Sue measured her worth by the number of lives she impacted. And impact lives she did.

Once, Sue and her beloved sister, Gail, were checking out at a local grocery store on a weekend around teacher appreciation week. When the cashier noticed that Gail’s last name was Brenner, she mentioned her favorite kindergarten teacher some fifteen years before, an educator, she said, who had a lasting impression on her life. Without recognizing Sue, the cashier named her teacher as a Ms. Brenner. Gail quickly pointed out that her sister—present right there—had been her teacher. Even if Sue and her erstwhile student felt as much awkwardness as excitement, the moment testified to the long legacy of Sue’s vocation.

Sue’s loving personality extended most richly to her family. Born to Robert and Ruth Brenner in Indiana in 1952, Sue had a wonderful childhood, spent in the company of her older brother Jim, fifteen months her senior, and her younger sister Gail, six years her junior. Sue felt keenly the responsibility of the middle child as she provided a bridge between her older brother and young sister. Sue’s relationship with her parents was a strong one: her father was an IBM executive and she and he were always close, with some of her favorite memories with him being the long talks they shared and their wonderful family meals (though her father always took too long to chew his food, Sue would remember!). Yet, Sue’s relationship with her own mother was deeper. If the two almost looked alike, their temperaments were certainly more so. If they both possessed some of the same anxieties, they also both treasured children and were exceptionally giving and family-oriented. Sue always remembered her mother’s emphasis on the value of forgiveness and the importance of placing the needs of others first.

But Sue’s greatest relationship was with her husband, best friend, and life partner, George. Although both graduated from the same high school in Raleigh in 1970, they did not actually come to meet each other until they had an arranged date in 1983 in their early thirties. Things looked promising after a first date over a game of tennis, but George was even more certain of Sue’s interest when she returned for a third date after he flipped his sailboat on their second date, dunking her headfirst into the September water. The heady thrill of dating transitioned over the years into the vigilant devotion of married life after their wedding on June 22, 1985. Even so, Sue and George spent many happy moments down the years sailing in his catamaran or sunfish and spending time at the Peters’ lake house at Kerr Lake. Indeed, the story went that a largemouth bass George caught in October of 1987 heralded the arrival of their first child.

Sue and George were blessed with two children: David in 1987 and Megan in 1990. Sue dedicated herself to motherhood with zeal and joy and laughter. From nightly walks around the neighborhood, to sugar cookies with buttercream frosting, to instilling a passion for reading through the Bernstein Bears and Shel Silverstein, Sue was an active and loving mother to her children. Her happiest memories would be with George and the kids: their many family trips to the mountains, especially her favorite, Mount Pisgah; long swims to the point at the lake followed by a lunch with Panera cinnamon bagels and sour cream and onion potato chips; and the beloved ritual of Friday night pizza at their childhood home with Gail and Jim.

All throughout this time Sue continued her career as a kindergarten teacher, proving to be an excellent mentor to many young educators. Though she loved the profession and would have wished to continue in the classroom, Sue decided it was time to retire in 2010, after three decades of impacting lives.

Sue would miss the classroom, but she reveled in the freedom of retirement, volunteering for the Wake County library and devoting even more time to her two now-adult children. Her son followed his mother into the classroom, and her daughter pursued a career in public health. In the 2010s, one could find retired Sue spending time with them both, her sister, and especially her husband. The family treasured each other throughout this time, and though a diagnosis of Lewy Body dementia in 2018 heralded that the Lord would be shortly calling Sue home, the family rallied around Sue and treasured every moment over her remaining six years. Through that time Sue was still Sue, still rolling her eyes at her son’s antics, hugging and giggling with her daughter, and reciting the Lord’s Prayer with her husband every night. Sue fought Lewy Body dementia long enough to meet her first grandson, Forrest, a week before her passing.

Sue passed from this life in her sleep on a beautiful afternoon on Monday, July 8, 2024, with her husband by her side.

Sue’s favorite movie was It’s a Wonderful Life. In fact, her brother bought framed autographs from the main actors in the film for Christmas one year, items which Sue placed prominently in the family living room. One of her favorite lines from the film comes from the angel Clarence, who tells a despairing George Bailey “Strange, isn’t it. Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”

Sue’s life was an awareness of this loving contact to her fellow man and effort always to think of how she could help and contribute to others. Be it in the classroom with a score of wonderful, if rambunctious six-year-olds or in the routine nurturing and engagement with friends and family, Sue’s life was dominated by that most foundational of virtues: love.

Those who knew her will always love her in turn. She will be remembered and missed.

Sue was preceded in her passing by her parents and brother. She is survived her husband, George; her son, David, with his wife, Tamara, and grandson, Forrest; her daughter, Megan, and husband, Matt; and her sister, Gail. Also surviving are her sister-in-law, Nancy, and niece, Rebecca, with her husband, Frank, and daughter, Brooklyn.

A memorial service was held August 8, 2024 at 2:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church of Raleigh, 112 Salisbury Street.

The family requests memorial donation, in lieu of flowers, to either Dementia Alliance of NC or MemoryCare, by using the links below, under 'Donations'. Both organizations were quite helpful in educating George on dementia and how to navigate the caregiving journey.

If you would like to leave a favorite memory / story of Sue, or a message of condolence for her family, you may do so below, within 'Add a Memory'.

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