Susan E. Fields

1952 - 2024

Susan E. Fields

Conway, MA - Sue Fields passed away at the age of 71 from squamous cell carcinoma of the neck and throat in the early morning hours of 17 February, 2024, surrounded by her family. She was the beloved wife to Mark Silverman and mother to Jason Silverman, her daughter-in-law Jacinta Hunting, and her puppy Ceiligh. She maintained a circle of close friends from different times and geographies throughout her life, and loved the town of Conway dearly.

Sue was born on April 9th, 1952. She grew up in Chicago and as a child she would accompany her family to the Marshall Field department store. She fantasized about being related to Field himself, though she never would have expected to later move to Conway, MA where Field had spent much of his childhood. Her plan as she grew up was always to be a nurse, and in high school she worked as a candy striper. After high school she trained at Christ Community Hospital, receiving her nursing certification. She was hired at Rush Hospital in Chicago where she soon welcomed fellow young and hesitant nurses to the profession, warmly mentoring them.

After earning her Nurse Practitioner license at Hartford Hospital, Sue decided to settle in New England, and was hired as an NP at the UMass-Amherst Health Services in 1977. She took great pride in mentoring untold numbers of students through her care, retiring in 2013 after 35 years. Along the way, she earned a Bachelor's degree in nursing through Fitchburg State College, graduating summa cum laude.

Sue met Mark at Northfield's monthly contra dance in 1980, choosing him from a line-up of potential dance partners. They danced the night away, and that was that. She was proud of asking Mark to marry her on Sadie Hawkins Day of 1984. They then bought their house in Conway that spring, and were married in the back yard that summer. This summer would have been their 40th anniversary.

Sue was well traveled in her 20s through her 40s, with friends before she met Mark and later together with Mark to Europe and throughout North America. Her style, both pre-internet and later online, was to research tirelessly, making all plans and arrangements on her own and with the input of her travel-mates. She was similarly renowned for researching products and reading manuals cover to cover, whether for new cars, computers, dogs, or various baby products. Family members used her research and knowledge to get recommendations for their own purchases.

She was always ambitious with her house. She designed an addition which only required the specs being calculated by a professional designer, and then created a payment plan to have it paid off quickly and efficiently. She did the same with roof, electrical, window, and insulation improvements.

She was a woman of many talents and interests, from collecting oak furniture in her 20s and 30s, to becoming an accomplished basket maker in her early 30s, to acquiring a museum-quality collection of depression era glass, copper, and early toasters during the last decades of her life. She always said that she cherished "the thrill of the chase" as she sought to add to her collections.

Sue was generous to a fault, helping friends and family members just as others had earlier helped her, whether with her time, gifts, or funding. As much as she was a professional eye-roller at Mark's convoluted puns, her own sense of humor would shine through about equally goofy and outrageous jokes, stories, and anecdotes, often resulting in uncontrollable laughing fits when those around her were least prepared for it.

Sue was predeceased by her father Ed and her brother Bob. She is survived by her immediate family, her mother Willie, her sisters Linda and Pam, all of Indiana, her brother Bill of Connecticut, and a host of nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family would like contributions in her name to be made to the American Cancer Society or to Dakin Animal Shelter of Springfield. There will be a celebration for her in her family's back yard later in the spring.