Susan Blackford Moffett

MOFFETT, Susan Blackford, of Richmond, Virginia, died peacefully in her sleep on April 16, 2024. Sue was 91 and was born Susan Gatewood Powers, the middle child of Olney Hume Powers and Elizabeth Russell Powers of Stafford County. She was raised at Green Branch, a stone house her parents built on their farm just off U.S. Route 1 near Quantico. She and her sister, Betsy, and their brother, Hume, lived and played alongside cousins, aunts and uncles whose homes were close by. In the 1940s, Stafford was still quite rural. Their home was named for a small creek near the house.

She was educated in the Stafford County Public Schools, graduated from Quantico High School on the Marine Corps base, and received her bachelor's degree from Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg. Her father had died a few years earlier and the family moved to Fredericksburg while Sue was in college.

Upon graduation, Sue went to Richmond and first lived in a boarding house in the Fan District. After she married, the family moved a couple of times, but no home was ever farther than two miles from the Fan District. In short, Richmond was home.

Not long after settling in Richmond, she married James Baylor Blackford. Together, they raised two children, Susan and Jimmy. When the children were young, the family moved onto Laburnum Court in Richmond's Northside, where Sue made lifelong friends. She lived on Palmyra Avenue for 55 years.

Sue's first job was at Thalhimers, which was a well-known department store. Later, she taught in the Richmond Public Schools and was a social worker for Virginia Department for the Visually Handicapped. After 15 years of marriage, Baylor died in 1972. She married Charles H. Moffett, Jr., in 1979, whom she met while working for the state. She and Charlie enjoyed 24 years together and were thrilled to buy a cottage in Morattico, on the banks of the Rappahannock River in Lancaster County. Charlie loved to fish and Sue loved the Northern Neck. For most of her life, she regularly visited relatives in Sharps, VA. As a child, the family took weeklong summer trips to Sharps, which is how she came to love the Rappahannock River. Early in their marriage, Sue and Baylor also had owned a summer house in the Northern Neck, in Harryhogan, VA.

Sue was kind and gentle, made many friends, and left a warm impression after almost every chance encounter. Her children and grandson loved her dearly. She was a lifelong Episcopalian, first at beautiful Aquia Church in Stafford, one of the oldest churches in Virginia. In Richmond, Sue joined the church of her husband, Baylor. Grace & Holy Trinity Church counted her as a member for the rest of her life. She loved reading, time at the beach, playing bridge, sewing and gardening. Her life wasn't easy at times, but she never gave up, determined to make the best possible life for her family.

Sue is survived by her son, James Baylor Blackford, Jr.; daughter, Susan Blackford Hankins, son-in-law, Richard P. Hankins, Jr.; grandson, Richard P. Hankins III, all of Richmond; her sister, Elizabeth Powers Armitage, of Lexington Park, Maryland, to whom she was especially close; and several nieces and nephews and their families. She was predeceased by her brother, Olney Hume Powers, Jr., of Roanoke.

A memorial service will be held at 3:30 p.m., Friday, May 3, at Grace & Holy Trinity Church, 8 N. Laurel St., Richmond, Virginia 23220. The family asks that any memorial donations be made to Grace & Holy Trinity Church.