Summer Session, Alexandria, VA, July 2004

Yesterday, while working in my volunteer job I received one of the most shocking emails of the year: my friend Susan Cortez had passed away over the weekend. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around this. Susan was my supervisor for almost eight years at Fielding, the entire time I worked there, until she retired in September of 2007, five months before I resigned. She was a huge part of my life for all those years and definitely one of the reasons I loved my job as much as I did. I wish everyone could have a supervisor like her! She led a huge department with many different characters that displayed a vast variety of strengths and weaknesses, something most of us would certainly be overwhelmed by. Not Susan! She had an almost uncanny ability to gage people and play to their strengths, always giving someone a chance and keeping everyone that worked in her office of Academic Resources in line. We did not always see eye to eye for sure but we a had a deep mutual respect for each other. She managed our department like the trooper she was and I will never forget how she helped me through one of the toughest days of my life.

Susan did not have an easy life, and even the strong amongst us might have broken down under the weight she carried on her small shoulders. I often wondered how she made it through some of the times she had been through and was awed by her tenacity. If I can live through just half the challenges she had faced I can live through anything. By the time she retired in late 2007 she had been at Fielding for over 25 years. I dreaded the day that was her last because I knew it would never be the same without her, without passing by her office every morning to drink my tea and have a quick chat, without her leadership, without her dedication to the school, faculty, students, and her staff.

Susan was also a very talented artist and loved nothing more than drawing and digging around in her garden. Her tomatoes are unforgettable to this day and she always dreamed of having a studio room just for herself where she could draw uninterrupted. Fielding had already lost one of the most dedicated employees when she left but now the world has lost one of the most loving and compassionate human beings you could ever meet. I hope she will find the peace that she never found in life and I will forever miss being her “handler”!

Susan Wendy Cortez

August 31, 1944 – December 12, 2009

Today’s Running Tip: There will be no running tip today!