Susan H. Axtell

WILLIAMSBURG - Early childhood educator Susan H. Axtell, who enriched the lives of thousands of young families with her compassionate teaching, died Saturday, February 18, 2023 in Sentara Hospital. She was 79. For three decades beginning in 1978, Susan was a director and teacher at the Williamsburg Parent Cooperative Preschool (known familiarly as "Co-op"), located on the grounds of St. Martin's Episcopal Church. Her warmth, hypnotic reading voice and creative preschool plans left an indelible mark, judging from the regularity with which she was approached in shops or Colonial Williamsburg by grown former pupils gushing about the impact she'd had on their 3-year-old selves. She also touched the lives of many outside the Co-op community through her myriad volunteering efforts, whether it was delivering meals to the needy, giving communion to the home-bound as a lay minister, mustering support for Democratic causes or tutoring struggling readers. Susan was born to Howard and Carol Hallas in Evanston, Illinois in 1943, but was raised in the north suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. She attended Bloomfield Hills High School, where she acted in school plays and was president of a social work organization. She graduated from Wellesley College as an English major in 1966. She met her husband, James Axtell, on a blind date set up by her collegiate "big sister." They married in 1963, honeymooning on the Queen Mary as they sailed toward a new, temporary home in Cambridge, England. After returning stateside, Susan taught kindergarten at The Foote School in New Haven, Connecticut before moving with her family to Bronxville, New York, where she worked part-time at a Montessori school while raising her boys. She later taught at The School for Little Children in Evanston, Illinois for two years. Susan is survived by her husband, James; two sons, Nathaniel and Jeremy; her confidant and daughter-in-law, Jennifer Serré Axtell; two beloved grandchildren, Clark and Zoë Axtell; and a niece and nephew, Kelly and Michael Hallas, both of Lansing, Michigan. She was pre-deceased by her cherished brother, Clark Hallas. She was a long-time member of St. Martin's Episcopal Church, where she served on the Vestry, Funeral Reception Committee and Altar Guild, as well as teaching Sunday school, helping with the Crockpot Ministry and acting as a Lay Eucharistic Minister. Her genuine love and concern for others was reflected in the many other community service projects she took on outside St. Martin's. At various times, she volunteered with Literacy for Life, FISH, the League of Women Voters, Child Development Resources and the Williamsburg Regional Library, to name a few. A voracious and adventurous reader, Susan was a member of two books groups. After retiring from Co-op in 2009, she poured her energies into swimming, walking with friends, folk art, recreational baking (one of her friends joked her epitaph should read "She made a mean cookie"), and spending as much time as possible with her grandchildren. Her abiding generosity knew no bounds. Susan went out of her way to patronize many artists, craftspeople, small farmers, independent book sellers and any other deserving soul, especially small local ones. She had a particular soft spot for donations to local children's playgrounds. A memorial service will be held at a future date. In lieu of flowers, the family asks any donations be made to the Susan H. Axtell Scholarship Fund c/o Williamsburg Parent Cooperative Preschool, P.O. Box 422, Williamsburg, VA 23185.