Susan McLafferty

Susan McLafferty



Susan McLafferty passed away September 29, 2017 in her home in Albuquerque. She was 65 years old. She grew up in Manchester, CT and is survived by her brother Steven as well as her two cats, Waylon and Munchkin.

Sue received her undergraduate degree at Smith College and a Master's degree at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. She utilized her love of science in several different occupations, including training astronauts for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, researching oil drilling locations for petroleum companies & writing computer code for satellite tracking and seismographic telemetry agencies. Her final job prior to retirement was at the Albuquerque Seismological Labs.

Sue was passionate about music. She played several instruments, including the hammered dulcimer, her favorite, as well as keyboards, fiddle and others. Several years ago, she led and taught tunes to the "Hit or Miss" hammered dulcimer practice group until about 2013 when she declared her job was done and continued with the group as a fellow collaborator. However, she played a strong lead in most tunes the group practiced until the last week of her life.

One of the members of Hit or Miss, RJ Mirabal, teamed up with Sue to form the hammered dulcimer duet "The Hammer Weavers". They played a variety of classical, traditional, and Celtic tunes for retirement homes and senior facilities in the Albuquerque area over the last few years. Creating an original arrangement of music to be performed during the Open Mike at the New Mexico Dulcimer Festival was their high point for every year since 2013.

Sue's other passion was folk dancing. She organized and ran a folk dance group in Socorro, NM prior to moving to Albuquerque in 1989. After moving to Albuquerque she was heavily involved with an international folk dance group. She later focused on Scandinavian dance, traveling frequently to Santa Fe for dances and attending dance workshops in Boulder, CO and Sweden.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at 1PM on Saturday, October 7, 2017 in the Chapel at Bear Canyon Estates, 4440 Morris Street, Albuquerque.

It is requested that in lieu of flowers donations be made to Animal Humane New Mexico.