I loved Susan and still miss her at yoga!
She was a true yogi through and through full of love, kindness and always perspective.   This is a great memory of her with our yoga group on Maui!
I suppose I should add she was always up for fun and adventure!   Thinking of you today Susan.  Love to you and your family jody 

David, Jamie and Aiden:

I begin by apologizing  about learning of Susan today in Halifax.  As Cohen has written

"How big we have grown, we have learned so much; everything it seems,  but how to stay in touch".

I would ask about Susan  when travelling through Dartmouth and Earl or Marty would bring me up to speed on Susan "and her boys".  I was told  only today of this tragedy. Your mother was a talented, vivacious, bright , gregarious and an all around fun person to be with.  Your Dad loved her dearly and  was extremely proud of all her accomplishments. You three boys have had the joy, be it to briefly, of having had two very, very special parents. I am sitting here shedding a tear and kicking myself for not staying more closely in touch with Susan. Please accept our belated  but very sincere condolences. Moira and I have nothing but extremely fond memories of both your parents and those memories will be forever with us. 

Moira and John

Dear family of Susan Wood. I am deeply sorry for your tragic loss. As an arts writer for the local Halifax paper, The Chronicle Herald, I often spoke with Susan and reviewed her art shows. I  was very fond of Susan and I LOVED her work for its beauty, integrity, intelligence and understanding of life and death.  I hope you can go forward 

I met Susan in my foundation year at NSCAD, and she remained an unwavering support throughout my studies. She was incredibly patient, unwaveringly supportive and always kind.  She taught me not only to draw (I was pitiful), but to examine things from different angles, not just in terms of art, but in life as a whole. Throughout the years I have kept a close eye on her work, which has always left me breathless, a skill to which I can only aspire, and I have remained in awe of her talent. She was down to earth, she was patient and her laugh was contagious. The news of her passing has saddened me beyond words, but I remain thankful that she was such a strong influence in my life on so many levels. 

We shared so many great conversations  with Susan for over 20 years in Bookclub about writing, authors and ideas.  Susan was always warm and positive during our bookclub meetings and when it was her month to present on her book it was so enjoyable to go to her lovely home, have a great dessert  (her's were always fantastic!) and hear her engaging presentation on a book that interested her, which we all read before meeting.  We will miss her presence greatly, not only as a bookclub member, but as a wonderful person, artist and gracious friend.  So many of us, in so many arenas of Susan's life, will remember her with  great fondness.
Our heartfelt condolences to Susan's family.

Heather MacLeod and Alex Livingston

Susan was a fine and generous friend.
We have been fortunate  over the more than thirty years of friendship to share conversations, laughter, family adventures, walks on the mudflats, great meals and bottles of  red wine - and, for me, maternity clothes.
A forever memory for me is from years ago at the cottage (of course) - a  Saturday night with Danny Finkelman playing music on the radio and Susan and Stephen dancing together in the kitchen.
Time with Susan was always special. Less than a month ago, Susan, Kieran and I shared conversation, laughter and, yes, a bottle of red wine in Susan’s living room in Halifax: it was special then and even more so, now.

Leslie, Dan, Kieran and Stevie

Charles and I were just remembering our special days at Mt. A. with Susan and Steve, sailing to Shediac Island, football, rugby, just being young.  We are all older now, but glad to have spent some of our lives in the company of such fine folks and friends.  Susan and Steve left us too soon.  Honourable David G. Near

MJ, Cole, Charlotte and Malcolm,

I believe that the thoughts of those who care about you can make a difference... I am thinking of you and your family and surrounding you with love and support. 
I only met Susan recently when she was visiting Calgary. I am grateful to have had that brief, chance meeting. 
Sending much love as you both grieve and celebrate Susan's life. Hoping that each new day will be a little easier for you. 

Love Lisa



Wonderful memories of Susan, and Steve, at MtA, the art gallery, the Aulac farm, Nancy, and much more later in life.  I’m sad now but I’ll always think of them with love and laughter, and be glad and thankful that I shared some little parts of their lives.   With love, Charlie

As many have expressed already, Susan was a lovely human with a great sense of humour. She taught me drawing in my final year of study and as I continued to work at NSCAD and raise a family she  talked me through raising boys. She said being the mom of boys was the absolute best! A true mentor. 

For many years Susan was an active and involved member in our arts community. She was cheerful and inspirational and was treasured by us all. We spent many hours volunteering together at Eastern Edge gallery. So sad to hear the news. Di Dabinett 


Most don’t know Susan as a yogi but she was body &soul.  She started practising almost 14 years ago and became very dedicated to ashtanga right from the get go - she once told me yoga was like art - as an artist she understood the value of practice.  Susan regularly  attended classes, workshops, retreats & even teacher training - in the latter case she said she thought it would be fun to train with the guru, Manju Jois - that was Susan!

It was rare that she would miss events - usually her summer cottage trips, visits to her boys and art exhibitions would really be the only thing that kept her from being at practice.

I had the honour of being her teacher & she taught me a lot about kindness, generosity & pragmatism.  I will miss her terribly, our Yoga community will miss her terribly, plain& simply she was a fabulous person.  I’m including a photo of Susan with her yoga mates while on retreat on Maui in 2015!   They were planning a 2019 reunion!

Susan your presence will always be at practice!

Jody 

Dear Nancy,  I was so sorry to hear of Susan's passing.  I know this is  an extremely  difficult time for you.  Have been thinking of you often. Please take good care of yourself,   Jean

To all those who knew and adored Susan, 
Without her physical presence, Susan's laughter, generosity, and curiosity towards those around her will linger on. She is a mentor, colleague, and friend whose kind and humorous ways I will surely carry with me. I met Susan in 1999 when she so generously took the role as a supervisor when I began my MFA at NSCAD. She was supportive but was always critical and thoughtful, making sure that my work evolved every week when she insisted we meet! During that time, she invited me to her home to feast with her charming sons Aiden, Jamie, and David and husband Stephen. After I graduated, these dinners and meetings continued and a friendship evolved. Susan was the one who hired me for my first teaching job. In this time, she would invited me to her studio to show me her hauntingly beautiful drawings that she was always working on. I won't forget her drawings, the solo exhibitions of her work that I've attended, mostly because her art showed a completely different side of her that couldn't always be put into words. That being said, describing Susan is always difficult to summarize in words but I've tried here as she is a special and unique person who I'll be thinking about for my lifetime. My heartfelt compassion goes out to those who are closer to her than I. Learning of her passing was not only the saddest day but a reminder to us all that it is our duty to uphold this remarkable human being who has influenced us in so many ways, and will continue to do so.  


David, Jamie, and Aiden,

  I need to start off by saying I'm both very sorry and sad to hear about your moms passing. 
  I was a very fortunate child to grow up so close and to be influenced by your family.  I remembered all the cool finer things about your amazing home, that was clearly decorated by your very talented mother.
  It was in grade 3 or 4, and I  was playing afterschool with David and all his awesome bros.  I noticed this coffee table that Steve and Susan had in their living.  They had this shallow sort of hardwood table with a glass top, then under the glass was an exposed compartment with mud that had dried to the point of it cracking as though it was land that had gone through a drought.  There were even wasps/hornets in the mud, dont ask me why.   Every wall in the house had some form of very creative artwork. They had this very large shed outback, with huge windows which overlooked big chestnut trees.
  As the years passed, it dawned on me that the Fudge and Wood familly lived in an art studio, that looked like a castle from the front.
  Susan cooked the best food in a kitchen that someone would never want to leave.  She had the warmest and most welcoming home. "The cottage" was another work of art overlooking the Northumberland Straight.  She inspired her children in the most positive way, she hardly raised her voice.  

You cant ask for a better person.

-Jake



My life changed completely because of Susan. One snowy day in Toronto, 31 years ago, she phoned me and asked if I might want to teach art classes in Newfoundland & Labrador. We had met the previous summer while I was in Newfoundland on vacation. Without hesitation I said yes, and then wondered what I had done! That exchange began the rest of my life: moving to Newfoundland, meeting my amazing wife, having a son, teaching design at the local college, participating in a rich and vibrant cultural community, and living next to bird sanctuary islands in the most breathtaking part of the world. It was literally a dream come true. And it began with her.

The Susan I knew was kind, talented, passionate and always looked for ways to make a difference. And that she did, in ways both big and small. 

I'll miss you Susan. The world needs more good people like you.

My thoughts go out to her family at this difficult time. 

The depth of pain in losing Susan cannot be measured. It is inconceivable to me that I won't see my beautiful freckled redheaded friend again. That I won't laugh with her til our sides split. That I won't see more of her stunning artworks. That I won't share another glass of wine on the cottage deck. Sue in one of her F. Scott Fitzgerald beach hats that reflected an old soul from another era, an era where glamour and grace meld.   But what I will have is a treasure trove of memories, memories spanning over six decades, that will light up my heart for as long as I live. The Wood family is my family, as true as any blood would dare to contest. My beloved sister Susan. I grieve this aching loss with each and every one of you. I extend my arms from Vancouver. They are holding you tight. Very very tight. ...Iris

To all Susan's family;
I remember my brother Bill and Susan leading Nancy and I to Acadia Street Public School in 1960. She and Nancy were quite simply the "apples of our eyes" for the many years we visited "home". Through the ups and down of life, Susan was beautiful and gracious and strong. She was an intellectual and artistic force. And that doesn't even touch on the Mother, daughter, sister and wife she was. What a privilege to know her. I cannot express to each of you how terribly sorry I am at her loss, love Helen

For Nancy... I am so sorry for your loss my dear friend. I know the unique space that sisters take up in our hearts and our lives - and the grief that attends losing their physical presence. Holding your heart in my  own...

David, Jamie and Aiden, I am so sorry to hear this news.  Your mother was a wonderful, warm woman who graciously welcomed the extended Jacques Whitford family into her home many times over the years.  I shared many a wonderful meal, drinks and laughter with her and Steve.  I saw Susan in Calgary in January, and it was great to reconnect.  So sad.


I am so sorry to hear of Susan's passing. My heart goes out to her family. I met Susan at Amherst Regional High School in 1970, my first year of teaching. Her sister, Nancy, was my student and Susan was part of the art club I  coordinated. I liked Susan from the very first. She was energetic, creative, articulate, caring and beautiful. She seemed more like a peer than a student. I saw her occasionally while she was at Mt. A. and I remember the beginnings of her love affair with Stephen. We reconnected in Halifax, in part, through my admiration for her art. She was a wonderful person.

Susan lived an amazing life. She was like her art, beautiful, composed of many layers of lived experience that made her be so many  things to so many people.  For nearly sixty years we were friends. We called ourselves kindred spirits and felt lucky to have shared memories that went back almost to the beginning of our lives. Though we shared so much, we rarely reflected on the past. Mostly we took pleasure in sharing the present , what was going on with each other and catching up when life took over and we had been too busy. Now I feel the need to share some of those early days, snapshots of the road we travelled together through a remarkably safe and secure childhood, one that prepared us for a life of promises kept and sorrows endured with grace and courage.Together we learned to skate, ride our bikes, skip rope endlessly, swim, make mud pies, pick blueberries on Cow Hill, toboggan  all day, make flower or chestnut necklaces, play in piles of fallen leaves, sell Girl Guide cookies in the pouring rain, dare each other to climb trees or jump off shed roofs, or eat bugs, or skate on semi-frozen ponds, or make prank phone calls to cranky old ladies who wouldn't let us on their property, lie on our backs and gaze at the clouds and the stars, play Monopoly or Clue, play with Barbie dolls(yes she did!), share mumps, chicken pox and head lice, finding and hiding her brother's Play Boy magazines (after taking a peek), cutting each other's hair (which meant a trip to a real hairdresser to repair the damage), arguing over who the cutest boy was and which was the best kisser when Spin The Bottle was played, buying eye makeup for the first time, getting our ears pierced, proms and boyfriends, and leaving home to become the person we were meant to be. Susan was always focused in the moment and that rare gift allowed her to bring joy and compassion to all of us who were so blessed to have her in our lives. Keeping her family in my heart and prayers.  

Susan was a kind, generous person and a true yogi. My husband Rob and I didn’t have a place to stay, and Susan took us in and made us so welcome. When I visited Halifax a couple of years later, she insisted I stay with her again. Her door was always open, she made us feel like part of her family.
We are so sorry to hear of her passing, our thoughts are with her family

"To Steven and Susan's Family"
I am sorry to hear of Susan's passing.  My sadness is multiplied as I am just also learning of Stephen's passing over 7 years ago.    I was at Mt A during the years they were there in the early 70's.    I did not know Susan well.   However I knew Stephen as I was his lab instructor in his first year chemistry coarse.  I fondly remember Steve as a hardworking student and football player.   He was a real  "People Person" and his warm kind spirit was infectious.  Many years later I met up with Steve in his Dartmouth office as we discussed environmental assessment files we were both working on while I was with DFO.    It was a pleasure to meet up with Steve again and share
 from the "good old days".   These are very fond memories.   May God bless you and comfort you during this difficult time.


I am so sorry to hear of Susan’s passing.  I have been doing Susan’s hair for over 20 years and her story’s of her family and especially her boys were always filled with love and joy. 
My heart breaks for you all.  She will be greatly missed! 

OBITUARY

Susan Elizabeth Wood

September 27, 1953 – February 26, 2018

JA Snow Funeral Home

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