Sue Cheer

She was born on January 16, 1938 in Detroit, Michigan to Sarah (Factor, later Foley) and Glen Showerman. Sue graduated from Cooley High School, and received a National Ford college scholarship. She attended the University of Michigan, and received her Bachelor’s degree and later a PhD in Biochemistry from Wayne State University, where she received a Phi Beta Kappa Key for her extraordinary academic achievement. She was married to Clair Cheer in 1963 in Detroit, and spent time in Colorado and Arizona before locating to Rhode Island, where she lived for almost 30 years. She worked as a research chemist for the Environmental Protection Agency laboratory in Narragansett. In 1975, she was one of only two American scientists selected to participate in joint research mission on board a Soviet research vessel to study pollution in coastal waters. In 1976, she was honored in a ceremony in which she received a Key to the City of Detroit for her scientific achievements.

Sue moved to Pleasantville, New York in 1997 to be near her daughter. She loved music and dancing, especially rock and roll, and being near the ocean. She was a loving, caring person who contributed generously over the years to various causes, such as fighting intolerance and protecting the environment. In 2004, she was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, but was successfully treated. She later developed kidney disease, and in 2013, she relocated to southern Oregon to be near her brothers, who helped care for her as she underwent dialysis.

She is survived by her brothers: Earl Showerman, his wife Lee, and niece Jessica and her children, and brother Robert Foley. She is predeceased by her nephew Jonah. In addition, she is survived by her children Colin Cheer, with wife Hillary and grandchildren Harlan, Eva, Nick, Rowan and Malcom, her daughter April Cheer Castoldi, with husband Ray, and grandchildren Lorenzo and Ray, and her former husband, Clair Cheer, with whom she remained friends until the end of her life.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Doctors Without Borders (https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/), the Southern Poverty Law Center (https://www.splcenter.org/) or the Sierra Club (https://www.sierraclub.org/). The family also wishes to thank the loving caregivers at Brookdale Medford who did so much to comfort her and care for her.

A memorial service will be hosted by Sue’s daughter April in New York on Thursday, October 18, 2018 at 7:00 PM at

The First Unitarian Society of Westchester

25 Old Jackson Ave.

Hastings-on-Hudson, New York 10706

(914) 478-2710 http://www.fusw.org/