Susan Lee Arnold

Susan graduated from Lexington High School in 1969. She developed an avid love for nature and gardening as part of farming communities in Tennessee and Kentucky. In 1985, she earned an Associate in Applied Science degree in pattern-making from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, where she then worked as a designer and teacher for some time before moving to New Hampshire. She worked in Londonderry in customer service at Herrington Catalog and settled in Weare, designing her own home and kept a beautiful garden with a focal point of carefully selected day lilies of varying brilliant colors. Her love for farming further flourished alongside her beloved companion, Chris Shattuck.

Suzie – as she was known by her close friends – lived by the “DIY” and “get it done and done right” approaches. There was no project too big or small, at home or work, that she did not approach in solid, practical New Englander style. She was fond of garage sales and over time became a savvy buyer and seller. When she was not working, tackling home projects, or taking in orphaned or injured animals, Suzie enjoyed history, genealogy, movies, and puzzles, and she maintained her love for the outdoors through swimming, kayaking, and skiing. She had a soft spot for the elderly and, in her retirement, served her community working part time with RJN Senior Care, providing loving care and companionship to those in need; in 2019, she received the Homestead Senior Center “Share Your Heart” award.

Along with her parents, Susan was predeceased by nephew Shawn Smith and nieces Jamie Smith, Jody Pimentel, and Paula Pimentel. She is survived by her companion Chris Shattuck of Groton MA; two sisters, Carol and her husband Gary Smith of Greenfield NH, and Patricia Pimentel of Fort Myers FL; two nephews Tod Smith and his wife Donna of Greenfield NH, and Joseph Pimentel and his spouse Fred Todt of Houston TX; great-nephews Colton and Bow Smith and Joshua and Christopher Fielding, and great-niece Jenna Rose Martines; dear friends Jane Fallon, Carolyn Hastings, Beth Griffin, and Erin Brown; as well as many other loving friends and neighbors.

Memorials may be made in Susan’s name to the Cathedral of the Pines (10 Hale Hill Road, Rindge NH 03461), where she loved to visit, which she wished to support, and where a celebration of her life will be held in late spring/early summer 2023.