Susan Joy Wilson passed away at 1:30 a.m. on February 3 at the age of 60. She died of breast cancer, but was never beaten by it.

She was born Susan Joy Barclay in DesMoines, Wash., and grew up with four brothers. She was the consummate Tom Boy. She loved playing baseball, bicycling and endless adventures in the woods. Her love of the outdoors surely began there.

She attended Mt. Rainier High School where she met her future husband, Robert, the first day of school. After graduating, she attended business college and pursued a fashion career for a few years and then started her work with children as a preschool teacher for under privileged children through the United Way.

At age 28 she was reunited with her high school sweetheart Bob; they were married and he adopted her first child Christian. Four years later, they had their first daughter Natasha; two years after that their second daughter Arielle.

Susan was a full time, extremely dedicated mothers as they made their way through college, medical school, and residency. In 1996, after building a home in Olympia, the Wilsons heard of an opening for a doctor on Lopez Island and 30 seconds later made the decision to apply.

Susan’s love for children was force in her life as she became a soccer coach for all three children, a co-founder for Community Shakespeare Company, Special Friends Volunteer, tireless ARC volunteer, Farm to School volunteer, Teen Night organizer and much more. She loved her five grand-children dearly. They came to know her house on Lopez Island as a second home.

One of her many outdoor loves was Kayaking. She trained to the level of Star 3 through the British Canoeing Union and guided trips through the San Juan Islands, leading overnight women’s retreats to the outer islands. She spent two weeks kayaking through the fjords of Alaska.

Many people knew Susan well because she seemed to be every where. She was a DNR volunteer, Lopez community Center Board member. She helped many people through her work as a certified fitness trainer at our local Lopez Gym and she was involved in the arts in writing, painting and pottery. She started a popular book club for women. She had many close and dear friends on the island.

In 2006 Susan was diagnosed with breast cancer. After two years of treatment, she returned full time to her kayaking. She bicycled the southern end of Ireland and traveled the world with her family to Scotland, Nepal, Mexico, France, Alaska and the Caribbean. Through all of her intense, and at times painful, cancer work she never once mentioned quitting. She was woman of great courage and lived a full, loving and fierce life right to the end. She is greatly missed.