Following is the obituary for SUSAN JANE BEEBY, submitted by her family.

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Susan Jane Beeby, a Westport resident for nearly six decades, passed away peacefully in her sleep in Redding on Monday, May 27.

Susan was born on Feb. 9, 1932, in Rockford, Ill., where she grew up with her brother John and sister Audrey. She graduated from West Rockford High School and earned her B.A. at Beloit College. She went on to teach the fourth, fifth and sixth grades in her hometown, and then in California, Cincinnati and Arlington Heights. She was greatly admired as a teacher, and entirely devoted to her students.

Susan married Robert Beeby in 1957. She remained a deeply committed wife and partner to him until her passing, serving as a shining example to everyone who knew her — especially her children and grandchildren. Together, Susan and Bob scaled the corporate ladder, traveled the world, navigated heartbreak and jubilation, and built a strong family with their unwavering love, guidance and attention.

Susan was the best mother anyone could wish for. Endlessly patient, endlessly tender, forever loyal. The lessons she taught her children Liz and Tom were wise and eternal — none more important than power of love.  

She was known to her grandchildren as “Nana,” a name that fit her perfectly. A visit to Nana’s house was always a serious treat; baking, story time, dress up, forts, kisses, questions, walks in the garden … adulation from Nana.

Susan painstakingly restored much of Westport’s original Bedford Gardens, a forgotten sanctuary of winding stone pathways, fountains, bridges and exotic plantings that lay beneath their lot on Beachside Avenue. The gardens and the home she built there were featured in multiple, prominent design magazines. She was a Westport resident for almost 60 years, and she dearly loved her town.

Susan mastered the art of calligraphy, delighting family and friends with exquisite (and often hilarious) letters, poems and collages festooned with ornate scripts and ink-stamped scenes of animals and angels. These are treasures we shall keep.

Susan is survived by her husband Bob; son Tom;  grandchildren Rexford and Alexis Hoadley, and Charlie, Tommy and Jack Beeby, and brother John Waggoner — all of us forever grateful for the warmth and sweetness that she brought to this earth. 

As were her wishes, there will be no service to mark her passing.