Susan Diane Blacksburg (née Jacobs), 78, died on January 9, 2026, as peacefully as she expected. The youngest of three, Sue grew up on one of the last residential farms in Brooklyn, where the toilet paper was yesterday’s news and dinner came from the yard. (According to Mom, nobody ate dinner that night.)
Known to her friends as “Jake,” Sue earned her nursing degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She married A. Brent Blacksburg, then an Assistant District Attorney for Queens County. After a year of spirited debate over how many children they should have, Brent eventually surrendered to Sue’s request for eight. They ultimately welcomed three — two sons and a daughter — at which point Brent remarked, “Sure feels like eight to me!” And Sue, ever practical, quietly relented.
Sue was not a woman given to emotional display, but she was, in her way, consistently kind and gracious. She showed care through steadiness, through humor, and through the daily acts that kept a family running. She made sure people were fed, safe, and accounted for — and if you were under her roof, you knew exactly where you stood.
Sue was predeceased by her husband, A. Brent Blacksburg, the love of her life. She spent many years without him, sadly, enjoying the best of what they made together: their children, Michael, Shayne, and Jasen; and seven grandchildren, Ari, Alana, Max, Jacob, Sam, Margot, and Esmé.
Sue called Tappan, New York; Haymarket, Virginia; and Durham, North Carolina home, leaving behind friends and loved ones in each place. In retirement, she traveled widely with her reunited brothers and created memories with her grandchildren. Sue was smart, funny, and quietly formidable. She will be remembered for her steadiness, frankness, and her enduring loyalty to the people she called hers. Edelweiss.
Known to her friends as “Jake,” Sue earned her nursing degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She married A. Brent Blacksburg, then an Assistant District Attorney for Queens County. After a year of spirited debate over how many children they should have, Brent eventually surrendered to Sue’s request for eight. They ultimately welcomed three — two sons and a daughter — at which point Brent remarked, “Sure feels like eight to me!” And Sue, ever practical, quietly relented.
Sue was not a woman given to emotional display, but she was, in her way, consistently kind and gracious. She showed care through steadiness, through humor, and through the daily acts that kept a family running. She made sure people were fed, safe, and accounted for — and if you were under her roof, you knew exactly where you stood.
Sue was predeceased by her husband, A. Brent Blacksburg, the love of her life. She spent many years without him, sadly, enjoying the best of what they made together: their children, Michael, Shayne, and Jasen; and seven grandchildren, Ari, Alana, Max, Jacob, Sam, Margot, and Esmé.
Sue called Tappan, New York; Haymarket, Virginia; and Durham, North Carolina home, leaving behind friends and loved ones in each place. In retirement, she traveled widely with her reunited brothers and created memories with her grandchildren. Sue was smart, funny, and quietly formidable. She will be remembered for her steadiness, frankness, and her enduring loyalty to the people she called hers. Edelweiss.
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