Claire Edith Smith Suslick

Claire
Edith Smith Suslick
Oct. 2, 1917 - Oct. 19, 2008

Mrs. Suslick, 90 of Charlotte, NC died Sunday at the Elmcroft Assisted Living Center.
Born in Kendall, Wisconsin, Claire was the eldest of five children born to the late Edward W. Smith and Hila Martha Rueckheim Smith. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1939 with a degree in Accounting, notable she was the only woman in that field at the time. She earned her MA in education from the Old Dominion University in Virginia during the 60's, followed by a career as a middle school math teacher in Norfolk, VA.
It was in an accounting class at the University of Wisconsin where she met Al Suslick. they married on December 27, 1941 and were soon separated by the war. Theirs was a 65-year long love story which took them from their Midwest roots to San Francisco and Pearl Harbor and for Claire, a life as a peripatetic naval officer's wife, a role she relished.
They raised four children and retired to Norfolk, Virginia after a 23 year naval career, where Claire pursued her graduate education and her teaching career.They moved to their home on the York River in the 70's to a 165 acre farm in Barhamsville, VA where they lived for 19 years.
Claire and Al spent 16 years at their home in Ford's Colony in Williamsburg before moving to Charlotte, NC.
Mrs. Suslick is survived by her four children, Dr. Randall Suslick and wife Sandy of Chase City, VA. Muriel Hastings of Seattle, WA. Elizabeth Penwell and husband Steve of Cody, WY. William Suslick and wife Kim of Charlotte, NC. Also surviving are 5 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 11:00 AM at St. Luke Catholic Church, 1300 Lawyers Rd, Mint Hill, NC. Interment will take place in Arlington National Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the church on Wednesday from 10:00 to 11:00 AM.
The Suslick family wish to extended its gratitude and appreciation to the caring staff at Elmcroft Assisted Living and Hospice and Palliative Care and the nursing staff at Carolinas Medical Center.
Online condolences may be sent to www.carolinafuneral.com
Carolina Funeral Service & Cremation Center is entrusted with the arrangements.