Susan Killheffer

1944 - 2019

Killheffer, Susan
Susan Gene Killheffer, 75, of New Haven, died on Thursday, April 11, 2019 at Yale New Haven Hospital's St. Raphael Campus. She was surrounded, as she usually was, by family and friends.
Susan was born in Buffalo, NY on January 3, 1944, to Eugene Batt and Milda (Eismann) Batt, and though she lived in the New Haven area for 45 years—in West Haven, Branford, and New Haven—she always considered herself to be "from" Buffalo. Through the years, she pined for heavy snowstorms and celebrated the culinary specialties of her home town—the distinctive pizza of the Bocce Club, the now-famous chicken wings of the Anchor Bar, and the peculiar local sandwich known as beef on weck. During her college years at NYU, she developed a lifelong devotion to folk music, hosting frequent sing-ins in her family's living room over the years.
After settling in Branford, with four children in the school system and owning a home for the first time, Susan took an active part in community and town politics. For many years, she was a mainstay of the Branford Hills School PTA. Once all her children were out of elementary school, she ran for and won a seat on the Branford Board of Education, and she later ran a vigorous (though unsuccessful) campaign for the office of first selectman. She was among the founders of Clean Water Now, a citizens' action group that led a legal and political effort which successfully secured compensation from the State of Connecticut for the industrial contamination of her Stony Creek neighborhood's groundwater. Later, she had a prominent role in a campaign by Branford citizens to support local businesses and oppose the opening of a WalMart in town. She may not have won all of her fights, but she always fought for what mattered to her most, and encouraged everyone to vote and make their voices heard in every way they could.
Susan worked at various part-time jobs while raising her family—waitress, proofreader, telemarketer, Avon Lady—but she eventually went to work full-time in the acquisitions department of the Yale University library system. After many years there, she moved into a position as librarian and educator at Planned Parenthood in New Haven, which she held until she was forced into early retirement by health problems.
Throughout her life, Susan found the greatest satisfaction in her role as mother and grandmother. Of all the things she could do and did well, this is where she shone most brightly and happily. She baked birthday cakes in any shape requested and hand-made Halloween costumes to suit even the strangest enthusiasms. She particularly loved holidays—she presided over an annual family Easter egg hunt, baked countless thousands of Christmas cookies, and turned the decorating of the tree into an extended evening of carols, mulled wine, and retelling family stories. Thanksgiving at Susan's became a huge event of borrowed tables and chairs filling every available nook to accommodate an ever-growing crowd of friends and family. She was never happier than when presiding over that feast.
And she was a great lover of dogs. Over the years, Susan welcomed a stunning array of animals into her home: cats, gerbils, fish, a parrot—even a spider monkey that she babysat for several weeks. But her dogs were always dearest to her. The last, Jerry, predeceased her by a mere two months.
She is survived by her four children—Robert, Kathryn, Jason, and Christopher—as well as her foster son, Brian, and a gaggle of grandchildren: Christopher, Emily, Jessy, Aidan, Noah, Giancarlo, Gemma, Rosanna, and the twins Simon and Lev.
A funeral service for Susan was held at St. Thomas More Chapel in New Haven on April 17, 2019. Anyone wishing to honor Susan may make a memorial donation to The Animal Haven, 89 Mill Road, North Haven, CT 06473.