Obituary
Susan E. Knapp April 14, 2021
Susan E. Knapp passed away at her Florida home in Carefree on April 14, after living with cancer for eleven years.
Susan was born in Schenectady, NY and graduated from Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School. She obtained her BA from SUNY Cortland. While there she played on the Field Hockey and Basketball teams and was a member of the Theta Phi sorority. She was instrumental as the Theta Phi sorority transitioned into the TPSI Alumni Association. After several years of coaching and officiating high school sports in upstate NY, she earned a degree in Biomedical Engineering Technology. While employed as a Biomedical Technician at the Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania, she attended Drexel University and University of Pennsylvania, studying Clinical Engineering.
After finishing her degree, she was hired to create the Clinical Engineering Department at Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY and remained there for her entire career. Prior to her retirement from Upstate, she was the coordinator for operational readiness of a five-story hospital addition that included the Golisano Children’s Hospital.
Sue was an avid outdoor enthusiast and enjoyed all four seasons. She especially loved paddling the quiet flatwater of the Adirondacks. A lover of wildlife and a passionate photographer, nature was her paradise.
During her eleven-year cancer journey Sue never let the disease define her. She decided from the beginning to live life to the fullest. She participated in excursions to Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica, Alaska (several times), Hawaii, Kenya, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands with her camera gear in tow to photograph native fauna and flora. She also delighted in visiting friends and family and fit those trips in whenever she could. Sue split her time between her home in the Adirondacks and home at Carefree. At Carefree she was active on many committees, a member of the chorus and played clarinet in the band.
Sue is survived by her wife Ellen ‘Nels’ Kerwick, sister Gretchen Remley (Mike), brother Bruce Blinn-Knapp (Beverly), nephew Jim Remley (Wendy), niece Jody Iddings (Jai), nephews Erik Remley (Nykki), Jason Knapp (Miranda), Kevin Remley (Kelli), niece Tara Wilson and their families. She was predeceased by her father Bruce Fuller Knapp and her mother Mabel Jeannette Heeder Knapp.
Celebrations of life will be held in her beloved Adirondacks later this year and at Carefree in early 2022.
Contributions in Susan’s memory may be made to the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation at www.adkloon.org/support or to the charity of your choice.
She will be missed.
I shared a love of nature with Sue especially Kenya. I have two of her photos in my entry and this is one of my favorites.