Susan M. McConnell Parry

On December 28th, Susan succumbed to the consequences of a stroke suffered in September. Born in New York City, she grew up on Long Island and in northern New Jersey. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Georgetown University in 1962, she worked for two years at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She completed a Master of Science degree in nursing at the University of Michigan in 1966, when she moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to work at North Carolina Memorial Hospital. She and Richard were married in Chapel Hill in December of that year. The newly-wed couple moved to Decatur in the fall of 1967 when Richard started teaching at Agnes Scott College. Susan worked at Emory University School of nursing, then Georgia Mental Health Institute, in the birth-defect survey, and finally in continuing education at Emory University Hospital. After the arrival of their children, Matthew and Amy, and a sabbatical year in Oxford, England, Susan settled into her distinguished career at DeKalb Medical Center. Serving as head nurse on several floors, she honed her unique leadership style, which endeared her to many. After a brief retirement, she returned as chief nursing officer and Vice President for Patient Care Services, a deeply satisfying period of her nursing career. Finally retiring in 2005, Susan served on the board of DeKalb Medical and co-authored, with Dr. Wytch Stubbs, a history of the hospital. During this time, she organized, with her characteristic charm and enthusiasm, the Health care Ministry at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in downtown Atlanta. In her retirement, she enjoyed traveling and lighting up the lives of her family, especially her grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her father and mother, James E. and Joan P. McConnell, and her sister, Margot Jeannette. She is survived by her husband of 47 years, Richard, by her son, Matthew and daughter-in-law, Megan, and their three children, Hazen, Katherine and Claire; and by her daughter, Amy and son-in-law, Brad Lawrence, and their son, Henry. The Mass of Resurrection will be celebrated by the Reverend Thomas R. Flynn at the Basilica, 353 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30308, at 2 o’clock, Saturday, January 4, 2014. A visitation for family and friends will be Friday January 3 from 6 until 8 o’clock with prayers being at 7:30 at Patterson’s Spring Hill Chapel. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the DeKalb Medical Foundation. Online condolences may be made at hmpattersonspringhill.com.