Suzanne Elizabeth Nadeau

Suzanne Elizabeth Nadeau, 82, of Keene, NH, passed away from Alzheimer’s disease at her home in Keene on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, with her family by her side. She met her death with courage and grace. She was appreciative of the support and care from family, friends, and medical, professional, and personal care services.

Suzanne would be the first to offer to get you a drink: coffee, wine, or water? If you, the reader, enjoy audience participation then please help yourself to a drink.

Her late parents, Everett P. and Mary E. (Lyons) Alther, welcomed their daughter into the world on May 6, 1942, in Paterson City, New Jersey. The Althers moved to Keene in 1952, and Suzanne graduated from Keene High School in 1960.

Suzanne attended Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts, graduating in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Medical Secretarial Science. While in college, Suzanne continued to play the French horn and faithfully attended chemistry class, where she attracted the eye and captured the heart of her future husband, Roland. ;) In 1965, they married and moved to Rockville, Maryland where Suzanne formed lifelong friendships. Suzanne and Roland, with a growing family, returned to Keene in 1973 to be closer to family.

Suzanne worked for many years as a medical secretary in the laboratory and medical records department with the Cheshire Medical Center, Keene. All facets and details of the medical field were a passion of hers. She owned more than one medical reference book, was intrigued and unphased by facts that made others squeamish, and enjoyed a good medical drama or forensic who-done-it on TV. As a hobby, she’d happily offer to help diagnose any perceived ailments. The running family joke was to not mention any symptoms to Suzanne in an extended family setting because playful family members would pepper the conversation with humorous catastrophizing and as she played along, you’d risk being diagnosed as dead-by-the-end-of-the-week.

Raising four boys was hectic. Suzanne rejuvenated herself in the solitude of the early morning with a book, coffee, and, yes, a cigarette. One of her favorite places to take this respite was on her screened porch among the refreshing breezes and singing birds. She enjoyed cultivating and nurturing her flower garden and celebrating the wildlife, particularly birds, that it gathered. She was a voracious reader and especially enjoyed the season’s first tomatoes, cucumbers, and corn on the cob from local farms.

Suzanne engaged everyone warmly and ensured that anyone who visited or worked at her house felt at home. Do you need a refill on that drink? How about a tasty treat? She offered coffee or a cold drink to home improvement professionals and chatted with them during their work breaks. She is credited with being the catalyst that culminated in one of those home improvement professionals becoming her brother-in-law.

Suzanne cherished many friendships. It’s not possible to name everyone, however, our lasting impression is that she had several, sister-like friends who were especially dear to her—Ann, Melinda, Joanne, Jan, Jeanna, Paula, and Sharon. For fear of having left someone out we will also acknowledge “Whosie,” the moniker Suzanne used when the name she was searching for wouldn’t come quickly enough.

It was always a family favorite when it was Suzanne and Roland’s turn to host the monthly couples SOB Bridge Club – that's Sons of Bellini, or so she told the kids. She also enjoyed the milder book clubs. She had a wonderful sense of humor, and an uncanny knack for composing heart-felt, humorous, narrative poems. She was also a huge fan of gifting long, handwritten letters and she illustrated birthday cards and the like with doodles and smiley faces.

Suzanne loved the ocean. The sight and sound of breaking waves, the smell and feel of sea spray, and the ebb and flow of sunsets and sunrises brought her peace and tranquility. Her favorite place—her heaven on Earth—was Martha’s Vineyard, where she and her family vacationed for many years. She relished the taste of charcoal-grilled, freshly caught swordfish and Mad Martha’s Black Raspberry ice cream during her sojourns on the island; and we all relished her coffee cake, scalloped potatoes, and hot fudge sauce during these vacations, as well as at other special family gatherings.

She didn’t desire much; however, she wasn’t shy to mention that she had a special longing for the throaty growl of a two-seater sports car to zip around town in.

Suzanne was immensely proud of her sons and grandchildren, who affectionately called her Mimi, passionately supporting them in their pursuits of their dreams, even when it meant giving up her dining room table for a fledgling business, learning the lexicon and rules of numerous sports, arranging horseback riding lessons—with obstacle jumping, or dropping her teenage son off at evening art classes to draw nudes; she cherished them and their spouses above all else.

Suzanne will be greatly missed by many, especially her husband of 58 years, Roland Nadeau of Keene; her four sons: Joseph Nadeau and his wife, Stacy Tantum, of Durham, NC; Timothy Nadeau and his wife, Anne, of Walpole, NH; Brian Nadeau and his wife, Gretchen, of Westmoreland, NH; and Joshua Nadeau of Keene; her grandchildren: McKenzie Welch and her husband, Patrick, of Columbiaville, MI; Jack Nadeau of Miami, FL; Nicholas Nadeau of Westmoreland; Emma Nadeau of Keene; and Riley Nadeau of Durham; her sisters: Marylouise Alther and her husband, Glenn Davis (aforementioned home improvement professional), of Keene; Judith Duhaime of Perkinsville, VT; and Christine Clarke and her husband, Scott, of Swanzey, NH; her brothers: Philip Alther of Keene; and Daniel Alther and his wife, Mary, of Richmond, NH; a sister-in-law, Diane Lord and her husband, Robert, of Melrose, MA; a brother-in-law, Gerald Nadeau of Saugus, MA; and many nieces, nephews and extended family members. A sister-in-law, Marylou Alther, predeceased her.

A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, at 11:30 am in the Foley Funeral Home (www.foleyfuneralhome.com), 49 Court Street, Keene. All are welcome.

Thank you for engaging with this tribute to and remembrance of Suzanne. If you have a drink handy (and you likely would by now because Suzanne wouldn’t want it any other way), please join us by raising it—“to Mimi!”

In lieu of flowers, for those who wish and are able, donations may be made in Suzanne Nadeau’s memory to the Keene Public Library, her home away from home. (Keene Public Library, 60 Winter Street, Keene, NH 03431.)