Susan Patricia (Thompson) Carlson

Susan Thompson Carlson, 58, of West Hartford, CT died on Thanksgiving Day 2010 after a five year courageous battle with an especially difficult type of cancer. Her fight took her to leading cancer centers in Maryland, Florida and most recently Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale- New Haven. Despite excellent care in all of these facilities, she finally succumbed to the disease. What was so impressive about Sue was that she never broke down and gave in to her predicament. Family members that accompanied her on numerous doctors’ visits and many difficult treatment regiments, often witnessed her receiving very distressing news, and yet responding with an attitude of “ OK, this didn’t work, what can we try next?” Our entire family wishes to thank all of the fine doctors and medical staff at these wonderful hospitals that worked so hard to help Sue. Their compassion and patient focus were apparent at every step along this difficult journey. She was born on February 17, 1952 in Schenectady, New York to her parents Edward and Edith Thompson. As a result of Mr. Thompson’s work as an engineer, she lived in a number of locations on the East Coast including West Palm Beach, Waterford, New London, and finally East Lyme, CT. She graduated from East Lyme High School in 1970 and met her future husband, Eric S. Carlson, in the summer between High School and College. Susan pursued an interest in fashion design after high school by attending a fashion design school in Boston. After a year of schooling and some exposure to the New York fashion scene, she decided that she really was not attracted to big city life. She returned to East Lyme and was married to Eric in 1972. She worked in a brokerage firm in New London while her husband finished his degree at Connecticut College. They then moved to Eric’s hometown of West Hartford where they lived for over 30 years. Sue never stopped growing as a person. Having spent years as a legal secretary at a leading law firm in Hartford, and having had two wonderful children, she decided to go back to college to learn to be a certified occupational therapist assistant and work with children in public schools. She finally found what she was meant to do and worked up until the end of the 2010 school year. It was a joy to watch her work with the children. Her spirit will live on through her two sons, Eric Christian Carlson of Topsham, ME. and Kurt Bjorn Carlson of West Hartford, CT. She also leaves behind two brothers, Robert Thompson of Norwich, CT and David Thompson of Tampa, FL as well as one sister Leslie Mouchard of Paris, France. Numerous nieces and nephews have also been lucky to know her. Sue and her family were members of Emanuel Lutheran Church, 311 Capitol Ave, Hartford, CT. She valued her faith greatly and appreciated the support of many from her church family. Memorial gifts can be given to the church to help support the Neighborhood Youth Program. Calling hours are on Friday, December 3, 2010, from 5-8 p.m., at Taylor & Modeen Funeral Home, 136 South Main St., West Hartford. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 4, 2010, at 11 a.m., at Emanuel Lutheran Church, Hartford, Connecticut. For directions and online condolences, please visit www.taylorandmodeen.com.

Susan Patricia (Thompson) Carlson

November 25, 2010