Susan Louise Borden Sanson

Susan Louise Borden Sanson, formerly of New Orleans, Louisiana, an International Mission Board missionionary of the Southern Baptist Convention, died of Malaria in Zomba, Malawi on May 18, 2015. Susan was born in Salamanca, New York on December 22, 1947 and grew up in Niles, Ohio. Following high school, Susan attended and graduated from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and then moved to New York City where she worked for McCall's magazine as a fashion illustrator. She also worked as a model and as a layout artist. She owned and operated several businesses and was an overseas buyer for a marketing firm in Boston. Susan's career focus shifted after living for fifteen years in Manhatten. She began working at New York Hospital in AIDS Education and continued in this work for an additional ten years. She then enrolled at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary where she met her husband, Billy. They married on May 23, 1992 in the Chapel at then Baptist Hospital in New Orleans. They served together in youth and single adult ministry at Metairie Baptist Church for three years. Finally, she spent the last fifteen years with her husband as a chaplain in the University of Malawi. Susan and Billy have trained and mentored many students who are now pastors and leaders in ministry. Susan's family cherishes the comments that are pouring in from around the United States and Malawi about how so many lives were touched through Susan's life and ministry. Honoring Susan would not be complete though, until we turn our focus to Christ. She would want to give Him the glory for all of the beauty and goodness we saw in her. She would want us to know that what Christ has done in and through her life He can do in and through our lives. And she would encourage us to seek Him and His will for our lives with all of our hearts. Susan was preceded in death by her parents, Deyo and Dorothy Borden, and father-in-law A.E. "Woody" Sanson. Survivors include her husband Billy Sanson; sister Diane and Kim Grueser and nephew Evan of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; her sister Nancy and David Seminara and niece Julie of Boulder, Colorado; and her brother, Craig and Linda Borden, niece Corey and Jon Black, great niece Lulu and great nephew Benjamin; and nephew Stuart and Lillian Borden and great niece Stella of Philadelphia, Mississippi. Left to cherish her memory are her mother-in-law, Delia Sanson of The Woodlands, Texas, sister-in-law Beth Crawford of The Woodlands, Texas, niece Janet and John Neal and great-nephews Noah and Gavin of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, brother-in-law Bobby Sanson of Metairie, Louisiana and sister-in-law Becky Sanson of the Woodlands, Texas. Funeral Services will be held on Monday, June 1, 2015 at 11:00 AM at Metairie Baptist Church, 401 Codifer Blvd, Metairie, LA. Visitation will begin on Sunday, May 31, 2015 from 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM at Leitz-Eagan Funeral Home, 4747 Veterans Blvd, Metairie, LA, and continue at the church on Monday from 10:00 AM until the service. Interment will be in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, MS on Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at 10:00 AM. To honor Susan and provide for continuing ministry to the students of the University of Malawi, in lieu of customary remembrances, donations can be made to "The Susan Sanson Chapel Fund" through Metairie Baptist Church, 401 Codifer Blvd. 70005 (Checks should be payable to "Metairie Baptist" with a note indicating for "The Susan Sanson Chapel Fund". Express condolences at www.leitzeaganfuneralhome.com.