Suzanne Wilcox Garnett

1935 - 2025

Suzanne Wilcox Garnett
12/21/1935 - 07/28/2025
Suzanne Wilcox Garnett passed away peacefully on the morning of Monday, July 28th after two days of hospice care at the JFK Memorial Hospital near her family home in La Quinta, California, 5 months before her 90th birthday. Her immediate family, husband Richard, children James, Carol, Robert and John and her long term caregiver Maria were all with her.

Suzanne was the beloved wife and best friend of her husband Richard throughout their happy 66 year marriage! Suzanne was born on December 21, 1935 in Orange, New Jersey, where her family resided for many years. Interestingly, her birth hospital was located just a few miles from her husband's birth hospital 18 months earlier.

Suzanne was a graduate of Orange High School where she was a majorette in the marching band and a member of the tennis team. She was a 1955 graduate of Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts where she enjoyed many new friends and the beautiful college campus that overlooks the Atlantic seashore just north of Boston. Suzanne majored in Art and Interior Design, both of which became lifetime passions. After graduation she worked for a local interior design company and then with the pharmaceutical company CIBA, when the family moved to Summit, New Jersey.

In a wonderful stroke of luck Suzanne's future husband Richard, from Boonton, New Jersey, was introduced to her by his Lafayette College roommate Morgan Larson who would soon marry Roberta Abbott, a good friend of Suzanne's at Endicott. Richard likes to remind us that he had previously seen Suzanne's picture and knew how beautiful she was and was anxious to meet her. Their first date was in the spring of '56 at Lafayette when Suzanne trained to Easton for a party weekend. The mutual attraction was immediate...and lasted a lifetime!!

After Richard's graduation and two years of service as an Ensign in the US Coast and Geodetic Survey, Richard and Suzanne married in Millburn, New Jersey followed by a blissful honeymoon in Bermuda. Richard soon began his 39 year career with Shell Oil Company, with career opportunities dictating frequent moves. Suzanne gracefully took charge of the many relocations for the growing family......schools, neighborhoods, doctors, new friends, and much more. Many wonderful memories of happy times remain....graduations, weddings, family holidays especially many Thanksgiving dinners shared with Richard's brother Albert and family. Triple August birthdays were always a special occasion since their twin sons Rob and John were born on her older son Jim's birthday!

Over the years the family lived in many nice places including Pleasantville, NY, Morris Plains, NJ, Baltimore, MD, Houston, TX, East Setauket, Long Island, London, UK (where their gorgeous Onslow Square flat was just a short walk to Harrods and Hyde Park). And finally in 1998, retirement for Suzanne and Richard took them to La Quinta, CA. Everywhere they moved, Suzanne utilized her artistic and aesthetic talents to create beautiful homes that the family always treasured.

While in London, Suzanne enjoyed tennis at Queens Club, Wimbledon Tournaments, Royal Ascot horse racing, many museum visits, theater performances (Phantom of the Opera was a favorite!) and frequent international travel including Japan and many of the European countries. They had a memorable visit to Beijing, China in the late '80's before China's rapid modernization. And while in La Quinta, Suzanne was a regular attendee of the Indian Wells Annual Tennis Tournament and a frequent fan of local theater and musical performances.

Suzanne will always be remembered for her grace and beauty, her love of art and music, her keen intuition and her loving disposition. She will be missed.

Suzanne is survived by her immediate family, husband Richard, son James and his wife Dian and their children Samantha and Julianne, daughter Carol, son Robert and his partner Norman, and son John, and by niece Suzanne and nephew Clifford, and Richard's nephew Richard and his wife Maureen and their son Mathew.

Suzanne is predeceased by her mother Helen Harding McIntire Wilcox and father Lewis Elston Wilcox, her younger sister Gwendolyn Maurer and brother in law Albert C Garnett and sister in law Joyce Ann Garnett and their son Douglas E Garnett.

A private family celebration of Suzanne's life is planned for a later date this fall. Special thanks to the Right at Home caregivers Susan and Maria, who became like second family members with their loving care for Suzanne and to the second floor staff at JFK Memorial Hospital for their attentive care and warm friendliness to the whole family. In lieu of flowers, the family recommends contributions to The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.