Sue Ann Kunberger was born February 15, 1940, to James and Zelma (Fowler) Wigginton.
Suzie grew up in Louisville with 42 first cousins, and spent summers at the family farm in
Bardstown (knitting jackets for geese). She lived on McKinley Street in Germantown, across
from the Cotton Mill, in an apartment above a dentist’s office which housed a rabbit that bit off
children’s fingers. As a teen, she scooped ice cream at Ehrler’s Dairy, danced the shag in her
poodle skirts, and snuck out of the house with her girlfriends to get into all kinds of trouble.
She attended the first class of Assumption high school, whose motto was “strength in
sisterhood,” which was guiding principle of her life.
Sue Ann met her husband, George at a school dance at St. Mary and Elizabeth School of
Nursing. In 1961, Sue followed George to Japan where they were married, three times in a row.
Sue’s love of international cultures started in Kyoto, where she bicycled through rice paddies,
befriended woodblock artists, traveled solo throughout Asia, studied Chinese cooking from
American nuns, and had her first two children.
She was proud to be an military officer’s wife. Sue and George were stationed in Wyoming,
California, Ohio, Florida, and Guam before settling near Luke Air Force Base in 1976. Now with
five children, they built their dream home in Glen Arm Farms with the only private racquetball
court west of the Mississippi. She thus dominated at Chicken Park courts, cast and painted
ceramics, made jewelry, and threw the most amazing Christmas Eve parties. Sue enjoyed a
lifelong passion for the arts, including musical theatre, dance and opera. Sue was always up
for adventure, including summers at slide rock and road trips across America, and she was the
original dancemom to the Stagedoor Stars. Even as a single mother of five, working night
shifts to make ends meet, she filled her children’s with zany frolics and memorable escapades.
Sue practiced nursing for 42 years, including as a neonatal nurse at Maryvale Hospital, and a
school nurse for Liberty Elementary. Two of her proudest accomplishments were managing
nursing for the Vietnamese refugee camps on Guam, and organizing an Operation Babylift
flight that rescued over 300 orphans.
Sue was a devoted Catholic, and loved all of God’s children. She marched, sat-in and picketed
for desegregation in the 1950’s. She supported gay rights from the 1970’s. She was active in
the Right to Life movement throughout her life, and was proud to have been a speaker at the
1972 Republican National Convention. She rooted for the underdog, sought justice for the
downtrodden and kept her door always open to anyone in need.
Sue Ann expressed herself through poetry and had mastered the art of telling a good story. At
the age of 75, she achieved her dream of becoming a published author with two children’s
books and a book of her award-winning poetry.
Sue was a devoted mother to so many, including her own five children, 11 grandchildren, and
12 great-grandchildren. She was warm, loving, and jovial; humble and enthusiastic, supportive
and genuine. She was a living saint and a firecracker. Sue Ann made a friend of everyone she
met, and she will be missed by all.
Funeral Mass will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, August 10, 2020, at St. Gregory’s Catholic
Church, with Graveside Service at 1:00 p.m. at Phoenix Memorial Park. Private reception,
please contact Kate or Carrie for information.
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