Susan Forster, 80, left us for Heaven on January 31, 2024. Susan was born in New York City on November 20, 1943. Daughter of Fred and Myrtle Abbott. For all her life she had Fred’s love of music and her mother’s love of caring.
Susan loved life, the outdoors and making friends all over the world. She and her husband of 58 years, Peter, traveled far and wide and saw and experienced the wonders and cultures of many nations.
Susan graduated from Green Mountain College and met Peter in New York City in 1964. She had the good fortune to work for CBS in the ’60s with the likes of Walter Cronkite and the beginning of the Super Bowl era firsthand.
She was Director of Human Resources for the Mead Corporation, got her MBA along the way, and then started, along with longtime friend Janet, a commercial interior design company called InPlan. After eventually selling that company, she devoted more time to community help in the greater Jacksonville area. She was active building houses with Habitat for Humanity, a member of the Woman’s Giving Alliance and organized the first Ponte Vedra Beach cleanup in the early 2000s called Sweep the Beach for which over a hundred local helpers signed up and got it done. Ponte Vedra and Sawgrass gave us a blessing in what were many, many forever friendships that never faded.
Helping her large extended family and the children was a passion. She was a good teacher and role model, involved and caring, but set the bar high. In her lifetime she packed a lot of parachutes for others.
Sailing the summers on the waters off the coast of Maine for nearly 50 years made Maine, along with many friends, a second home. She loved being on the water. Rarely did Susan tell anyone that she had a full Captain’s license. Along with friends Sid, Cate and Liz, she started a Comfortable Cruising program, women only, to teach the art of sailing large boats at the Camden Yacht Club, a smashing success. Skiing in Telluride for nearly 30 years never became routine, thanks to our Aussie friends Georgie and Nev.
She is survived by her husband, Peter; brother, Tony Abbott; sister-in-law, Roberta Abbott; nephews, nieces, and cousins: Susan, Ed, Megan, Katie, Andrew and Matthew Ciszek; John, Swati and Pravar Abbott; Doris Cush and Joan Wasserman; two very special angels, Khadija and Sonya, and a cadre of never wavering support from Shelia, Grace, Ana, Donna, Pravar, and countless others.
A Memorial Service will be held in May at the St. Francis in the Field Memorial Garden.
Should you wish to make a donation in her name, please consider Community Hospice & Palliative Care, 4266 Sunbeam Road, Jacksonville, FL 32257. Please visit her Tribute online at www.quinn-shalz.com.
