Susan Claire Pulitzer

The story goes, and I wasn’t there, that when Susie was being born she was traveling fast to this side when the delivery doc said to the nurse, “Give her", my mother, "a block, I have to go home and get dressed for a cocktail party.” This was New Orleans after all. So Susie didn’t get all the oxygen she needed and was born slightly “retarded” as we called it back then.

Back in those days, most parents would have put her in an institution, but not my parents. She went to public school then Ecole Classique. She hung out with me and my friends and made us laugh. She gave me my sense of humor. She made a million friends.

Susie knew she was different but never let that stop her. She made wonderful, uninhibited art that was featured in newspapers and magazines from time to time. She was also a teacher to my family, schooling us in the art of vulnerability and humility.

She had that greatest gift of all gifts, she loved people. She’d go into a restaurant and before you knew it, she was getting a laugh and special treatment. I am quite sure it was the love she gave and the love she received in return that was the fuel for her long life in the face of so many great physical and emotional setbacks. She did have special needs but she also had special gifts. Although no one expected her to live a long life, she lived to be 80, I feel sure because she was an expert at love.

I am forever grateful to my parents and especially my mother who saw to it that Susie would live in a beautiful home surrounded by those who loved her. There are no words to express my gratitude to her caretakers, examples of what true Christianity looks like, Susie became part of their families. So to Pete and Ray Fowler, their daughter, Katrina Fowler, her daughter, Amanda Sims, Debbie Cochran, and her daughter, Christa Lackey, and Christa’s kids, Levi and Elijah, who loved Susie like she was an auntie, and Cynthia King, and her daughter, Nicole McDaniel, my thanks for 30 years of incredible care.

Disabled in the face of so much love is not disabled at all.

As Paul McCartney put it:

Oh yeah, all right

Are you going to be in my dreams tonight?

Love you, Love you, Love you, Love you

And in the end

The love you take

Is equal to the love you make

Goodbye to my very special sister.

Susan was preceded in death by her parents, Emanuel and Lillian Pulitzer, and her brother, Marshall Pulitzer. She is survived by her sister, Carol Pulitzer; her beloved cousin, Arthur Pulitzer (Sandra); and numerous other cousins.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend the graveside service in Metairie Cemetery, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd. in New Orleans, on Friday, July 26, 2024 at 10:00AM.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Susan’s memory to the charity of your choice.

To view and sign the online guest book, please visit www.lakelawnmetairie.com