Susan D. Cline . Esq

1953 - 2020

Susan D. Cline, Esq.
"Be so good that they can't ignore you." -- Steve Martin, comedian and actor
"If you only in your lifetime challenge people with power and defend people with less power, if you only do that with your life, you will be a success." -- George Clooney, actor, director, philanthropist
Susan Denise Cline, Esq., passed away on Monday, November 16, 2020. She was 67. She had recovered from sudden heart failure only to have Covid-19 end her life with pneumonia.
Susan -- a Florida native with longtime ties to West Palm Beach and Gainesville -- lived a life of service to the less fortunate and to the voiceless in society: As a 28-year assistant public defender; as an advocate for the rights of women, children and minorities; and as a supporter of conservation causes and animal rights groups.
Susan preferred to be called "just plain" Sue. However, because of her bright smile and cheerful nature, Sue was often called "Sunshine," "Sunny" or "Bright Eyes" by many close to her. With her passing, the world is a little darker. She is survived by her beloved beagle Sophie and her adoring husband, Richard Owen Haydan, a retired journalist.
Sue was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach, Fla, on Aug. 11, 1953. She is the daughter of C. Gerald Cline and Johnnie Cline, nee Roundtree. Gerald was a AAA baseball player for the New York Yankees. Johnnie was a telephone operator.
The couple divorced when Sue was barely a toddler. Johnnie raised her daughter as a single mother, advancing from telephone operator to become a key supervisor at both AT&T and Southern Bell. Sue always credited her mother with showing her how to be a strong, assertive woman.
She found another role model on the soap opera "Days of Our Lives". She began watching it when she was a little girl. And rarely missed an episode right up until the weeks before her death. Sue's heroine was Marlena, played by Lake Worth High School graduate Diedre Hall. As Sue grew up, she strove to emulate Diedre's long, blonde hair and Marlena's steely reserve under pressure.
Sue attended elementary and middle schools in Delray Beach, Fla., before entering Seacrest High School.
While her mother was an Episcopalian, a 10-year-old Sue once attended a Baptist service with some relatives. There, she answered the minister's call to come up and accept Jesus by being baptized in a tub of water.
"The preacher whipped up the crowd pretty well," she once recalled. "Sometimes, I think I was hypnotized. I felt as if I was being lifted out of my chair, but no one touched me. Anyway, I wasn't drawn to the Jesus who would save my soul. I was drawn to the Jesus who helped the sick, the poor and the helpless."
The experience so unnerved her that she never went to church again, except for weddings, funerals, and baptisms.
Sue attended Seacrest High School until the School Board merged the students from the predominantly white Seacrest with the students from the all-black George Washington Carver High School. The merger created Atlantic High School.
She was always proud of being a member of her high school's first fully integrated graduating class. As a member of the school's Spirit Club, she became friends with many football players, both white and black.
While in high school, she also worked on the award-winning student newspaper, The Squall, rising to editor. She also won a full scholarship to Florida Atlantic University, which then served state community colleges by offering only junior and senior years.
After graduating from Atlantic High in 1971, she passed on FAU to attend Palm Beach Junior College, a two-year school that eventually evolved into the four-year Palm Beach State College. She chose PBJC over FAU because she wanted to work on the junior college's award-winning student newspaper, The Beachcomber. She rose from reporter to editor-in-chief in less than a year. Along the way, she won first place in news writing from the National Collegiate Press Association. She won for an interview with then-U.S. Sen. Hubert Humphrey, who came to campus while campaigning for president. Sadly, the college shut down The Beachcomber many decades ago.
Since she could only serve one term as editor, she turned her talents to Student Government, becoming secretary and then treasurer. She graduated with an associate in science in communications.
Transferring to the University of Florida, she entered the College of Journalism and Communications. And, of course, she joined the staff of the college's award-winning student newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator. In less than a year, she rose from reporter to news editor to associate editor. When she was passed over for editor, she again turned her talents to Student Government.
Sue was soon elected to the Student Senate, the highest vote-getter in her college political party. She became the Senate Minority Leader, using her sharp mind, innate charm, and flexible negotiating style to cut across-the-aisle deals. Eventually, her leadership convinced student senators to elect her as the first female president of the Student Senate. She also served as the chairman of the Activity and Service Fees Advisory Committee, which at the time oversaw the allocation of $3.5 million in funds collected from students.
Her success in UF Student Government encouraged Sue to pursue a life of government service. She received her Bachelor of Science in Journalism in August 1975, and she was dubbed Outstanding Female Graduate of 1975.
While working toward a Masters in Public Administration, she was diagnosed with cancer, Level 3.5 melanoma. She underwent surgery to remove the growth from her right arm. But the doctors still gave her only a 15 percent chance of surviving the next five years. So, they recommended she undergo an experimental treatment. When she heard the treatment's side-effects, Sue knew she couldn't complete her degree if she joined the experiment.
"So I refused the treatment and asked God to roll the dice for me," Sue recalled four decades later. "I guess they came up a 7. I'm still here." The cancer never came back.
In December 1980, she earned her MPA, followed by her law degree in May 1983. Both from UF. In law school, she earned an Honors in Appellate Advocacy, a Book Award in Legal History, and made the Dean's List twice.
Sue also shared her leadership with Gainesville and Alachua County, UF's hometown and home county. She served on the city's Human Relation's Board for two years, including one year as chairman. She served on the board of directors of the Baby Gator Child Care Center for three years, including one year as chairman. And she served as treasurer of the Gainesville Area Women's Network for two years. A die-hard liberal Democrat, she volunteered to campaign for many state and local campaigns.
Because of her academic and extracurricular accomplishments, she was named to UF's Hall of Fame and to the national Who's Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges. She was also tapped for membership in three student leadership societies: Savant, Omicron Delta Kappa and the especially prestigious Florida Blue Key.
In 1981, she was named one of the Outstanding Young Women in America. The program honors women leaders between the ages of 21 and 36. She was one of the few selected from over 100,000 nominations by leaders in business, politics, religion and education. She was also named to OYWIA in 1983 and 1986.
After law school, Sue worked for eight months as an intern for the prosecution in the State Attorney's Office serving Alachua County. While she had the highest respect for the office and her fellow prosecutors, she decided she could serve the justice system best as a public defender.
She moved back to West Palm Beach expressly to work for the Palm Beach County Public Defender's Office, which had a national reputation for excellence. Soon afterward, she was hired as an assistant public defender for the Juvenile Division, where she excelled at convincing prosecutors and judges to send "her kids" to rehabilitation programs instead of jail or prison. Eventually, she transferred to the Appellate Division, where she fought to protect everyone's Constitutional rights by protecting her defendants' Constitutional rights.
As an assistant public defender, she served on the state Juvenile Court Rules Committee and the Juvenile Defender Improvement Project, which helped oversee a major juvenile detention facility. She also joined the Palm Beach Chapter of the Florida Association of Women Lawyers and the Palm Beach County Criminal Defense Association, for which she served as treasurer for 10 years.
Outside of work, she joined Soroptimist International of the Palm Beaches, a community service organization. She served as treasurer and president.
She also supported the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League, the Humane Society, the ASPCA, and Greenpeace. Always a lover of animals, she rescued many dogs, many cats, a bunny, and a rooster -- plus saving a host of turtles as they crossed highways. She was a real "animal whisperer," capable of calming aggressive dogs, skittish cats and abused horses.
Sue was also an avid gardener. In 1994, two of her orchids won awards in their class -- one a first-place blue ribbon and one a second-place red ribbon -- at the Tropical Orchid Society's Annual Show.
In addition, Sue continued to volunteer to support the election of candidates in whom she believed. And she volunteered as a poll watcher to protect people's rights to cast their ballots. And she manned phones to get out the vote for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid.
Richard and Sue lived together for many years before he proposed on Christmas Day 1990 at their home in Wellington. They were married at the Royal Poinciana Chapel in Palm Beach on May 18, 1991. Since Sue couldn't have children, she lavished love on the children of relatives and friends as well as her "K-9 kids," Samantha, Sascha, Buddy, and Sophie.
As a young woman, she showed how she had inherited some of her father's athletic ability. She was a snorkeler and accomplished boat pilot. She punched back-row power returns in picnic volleyball games. And she was a home-run threat at company softball games.
Sadly, later in life, she suffered severe injuries to her back and her right shoulder, both in freak accidents. Years later, after a heart attack and two strokes, she had to use a walker. Finally, she was forced to retire from the Public Defender's Office after nearly three decades.
In retirement, Sue cheered on her beloved Gator football team, screaming at the TV as loudly as if she were in the stands. She also kept her membership in the Florida Bar and gladly gave free legal advice to anyone who asked.
Because of Covid-19, Sue was forced to die alone. But in their last phone call, Richard reminded her that she had often said, they must have known each other in many past lives because they knew each other so well. Then he told her: "If you die, then when my time comes, I will search for you through all the universes encompassed by the mind of God until we are together again."
As she requested, Susan was cremated in a private ceremony.
To honor Susan's legacy, please donate in her name to any or all of the following groups:
XX The Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League. Post to 3100/3200 N. Military Trail, West Palm Beach, FL, 33409. Or call 561-686-3663. Or log onto: www.peggyadams.org/donate.
XX The College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida. Post to CJCUF in care of The UF Foundation Inc., P.O. Box 14425, Gainesville, FL, 32604-9949. Or call 877-351-2377. Or log onto: www.uff.ufl.edu/jou/.
XX Pediatric Cancer Programs at Shands Children's Hospital. Post in care of the Children's Miracle Network, UF Health, Shands Children's Hospital, P.O. Box 100386, Gainesville, FL, 32610. Or call 352-273-9622 or 352-265-7954. Or log onto: www.giving.ufhealth.org/cmn/.