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Suann Lewis

Published: May 3, 2011 19 Condolences

In Memorial

1960-2011 

Florida-Suann Lewis died Thursday, April 21, 2011in St. Anthony’s Hospital, St. Petersburg, FL.  Born in Miles City, Montana, she was the daughter of the late William and Mary (Rice) Lewis.  Suann had a lifetime of diabetes and cancer but coped with ill health by doing arts, crafts and sewing.  She operated a web site “Whimsicolor Design Studio” where she displayed her assortment of greeting cards.  Her drawings consisted of a series of animated characters referred to as the “Gardenia Gals”.  She was enthusiastic about her cats, usually strays that she rescued.  She was interested in Disneyworld, and was a Star Trek fan.  After losing one of her legs and being confined to a wheel chair, she took the train, by herself, to New York City to attend a Graphic Art convention. 

Suann is survived by her sisters, Maureen Hayes of Wilmington, NC, Anita Williams of Joppa, AL, Cathy Langham of Morris, AL, and Peggy Keith of Paduca, KY. 

In her honor, donations may be made to American Diabetes Association, Suite 295, 4902 Eisenhower Blvd, Tampa FL 33634.  A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 12:00 noon, in St. Mary’s Church, Putnam, CT.  Burial will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery immediately following the Mass.  Gilman Funeral Home, 104 Church St., Putnam, CT is in charge of arrangements.  For memorial guestbook visit www.GilmanAndValade.com

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Filed Under: Obituaries Tagged With: AL, American Diabetes Association, Anita Williams, Cathy Langham, Disneyworld, FL, Florida, Gardenia Gals, Gilman & Valade, Gilman Funeral Home, Joppa, KY, Mary (Rice) Lewis, Maureen Hayes, Miles City, Morris, MT, NC, New York City, Paduca, Peggy Keith, Putnam, St. Anthony's Hospital, St. Mary Cemetery, St. Mary Church of the Visitation, St. Petersburg, Suann Lewis, William Lewis, Wilmington

Condolence Messages

  1. Lyza Vidal

    June 3, 2011 at 8:22 am

    May God be with you and your family in this sad and tragic time losing such a gifted and wonderful soul. God bless.

  2. Liz Hutcheson

    June 3, 2011 at 8:31 am

    Please accept my deepest sympathy on Suann’s passing. I had the good fortune to meet her at the 2007 National Stationery Show and loved reading her upbeat posts on the Greeting Card Professionals group.

    Kind regards,
    Liz Hutcheson

  3. Lauri Waterfield

    June 3, 2011 at 9:50 am

    I am so sorry to hear of Suann’s passing. Although I have no doubt that she is now in a wonderful, wonderful place full of laughter, she will be missed in this world. I never had the pleasure of meeting her in person, but was a member of a Yahoo internet group that she frequented, and I enjoyed her there. She was a talented and giving person, always making an extra effort to encourage others or to devise a new marketing plan. Suann was the first to cheer on others’ successes, and when the conversation lagged, she always managed to rev it up again.
    May God hold her close, and her family and friends closer right now.

  4. Renie Britenbucher

    June 3, 2011 at 10:00 am

    I am so very sorry for your loss of Suann. She was in an Art Licensing group that I belonged to and she was always very upbeat and contributed a lot. She will be missed. You have my sincere sympathy.

  5. Elizabeth

    June 3, 2011 at 10:25 am

    I´m so sorry… I knew Suann from the Yahoo group “The art of licensing”. She was a very sweet girl making a whimsical artwork and contributing to the group frequently. I´m so sad…
    Sending to her family my thoughts and prayers.

  6. Gail Green

    June 3, 2011 at 11:57 am

    So sorry for your loss. Suann’s passing is a loss to us all. Her encouraging words the list and her positive outlook will be sorely missed. We all learned much from Suann about not letting difficult circumstances defeat us.
    Gail

  7. Vicki Schreiner

    June 3, 2011 at 12:11 pm

    Suann will be greatly missed! May she grace heaven with her beautiful art. I’m sure the next time any of us see a rainbow, it will be a little brighter because Suann will be adding her colorful touch to it. Peace and blessings to all of her family.

    Love,
    Vicki Schreiner

  8. Vanda Lavar

    June 3, 2011 at 12:30 pm

    God Bless

  9. Barb Tourtillotte

    June 3, 2011 at 12:30 pm

    I was so saddened to hear about the passing of Suann.
    She was such an inspiring friend to many of us in the art/licensing industry. She will be greatly missed. I do have solace as I hope you do as well that she is now whole, healthy and dancing with Jesus.

  10. Joanne FInk

    June 3, 2011 at 2:29 pm

    I am so sorry for your loss. Although I never had the privilege of meeting Suann in person, I feel I knew her from her frequent posts to The Art of Licensing, a listserv we both belonged to. Suann was a frequent contributor, and welcome member of the group. We all enjoyed her posts, and admired her determination… I am sad that she did not live to see her dream of becoming a successful licensed artist, and wanted you to know that her vibrant spirit will be missed.

    With sympathy,
    Joanne Fink

  11. Helz Cuppleditch

    June 3, 2011 at 6:35 pm

    I am so sorry to hear of your loss. Although I never met Suann in person, we “met” through the Art Licensing Group on the internet. Suann was always so enthusiastic about art, willing to share her thoughts and experiences, and always keen to find out more about licensing her work. Suann’s kindness shone through in the group and I know many of us will miss her. My thoughts are with you all. Peace be with you. Helz Cuppleditch.

  12. Maureen Girard

    June 3, 2011 at 8:16 pm

    Suann has been an active member of our online Art group. Always supportive & helpful. She is terribly missed. My thoughts go out to her family & friends.

  13. Mary Russell

    June 4, 2011 at 5:42 pm

    Suann was such a lovely person – we met via Twitter and I’m so sad that I didn’t know how ill she was. I guess she didn’t want to burden people with her problems which just goes to show how wonderful she really was. I will miss her wit and wisdom and her little Garden Path Pals. RIP Suann – may you dance in Heaven. 🙂

    “Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.” ~ Irish quote

  14. Sharon Delgado

    June 6, 2011 at 6:37 pm

    I am so very sorry to hear of Suann’s passing, as she was a mentor, friend and fellow artist from the Yahoo artist groups that so many talented professionals participate in and share their passion. I could always count on her to help me figure out the way with a new medium or fill a blank canvas. I will truly miss her and know that she is in His caring hands. May her kindness and love forever bless your souls.

  15. Bee

    June 6, 2011 at 7:37 pm

    Although I also never met Suann, I read all her contributions to the Art Licensing yahoo group. I am truly sorry Suann didn’t make it to Surtex. I am sure she is exhibiting somewhere in the universe. The world mourns the passing
    of artist such as herself.

  16. Jennifer L Nilsson

    June 7, 2011 at 10:42 am

    I am so sorry for the loss of Suann. We were members of many of the same licensing and artist groups and I knew her as a sweet person and talented artist. May she rest comfortably in the Father’s arms and once again run with the angels. My love to her family and friends.

  17. Marlene

    June 9, 2011 at 12:31 am

    Many blessings to Susan’s family. May her spirit live on through her creative works and beatifful greeting cards.

  18. Val Wilson

    June 28, 2011 at 10:49 am

    I’m so sorry for your loss and just wanted to express how much I will miss Suann. She was a sweet gentle soul with boundless enthusiam and a really big heart. I was so shocked to hear of her passing – please know that I will be thinking of her and you. Peace be with her family and friends.

    Valorie/Texas

  19. Pam Peltier Dickinson

    July 6, 2011 at 3:22 am

    Learned about the sad news and I am saddened that Suann had passed on yet I truly enjoyed knowing her with her great contribution of creatively references at The Art of Licensing. She did not let her disability inhibited her way as she was one of the amazingly strong and inspirational people having such great enthusiasm! As one of the sayings goes…”Like a rainbow, gone too soon but never forgotten,” I shall never forget this wonderful lady, who is greatly missed. All of you in Suann’s family have my prayers wishing you God’s peace.

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