Susan Richardson Miner February 18, 1947 – November 20, 2021

It is with great sadness that the family of Susan Richardson Miner announces her passing on November 20, 2021, following a short but brave battle with cancer. Susan was born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina to Donald and Marianne Richardson. Her family moved to Denver, Colorado and then settled in Salem, Oregon. She attended Oregon State University where she met the love of her life, William “Rick” Miner.

Sue and Rick were married on September 16, 1965 and moved to San Francisco where their daughters, Jennifer and Kendra, were born. In 1976, the family moved to Portland, Oregon, where they raised their family and became firmly embedded in the Garden Home community. Sue worked for Chapman Homes for several years before settling into a career with the consumer services division of Nike. She thoroughly enjoyed the friendships she made with her coworkers and stayed in touch with many of them long after her retirement in 2006. She spent many, many hours volunteering her time for local schools, the Boys & Girls Aid Society, Girl Scouts, food pantries, and homeless shelter organizations.

When Rick passed away in 2013, Sue found her way out of grief by developing a support group for widows and widowers in the community, helping others find comfort and friendship.

In 2018, when Sue’s brother and sister-in-law invited her to share in the building of a new home in Sisters, she jumped at the opportunity. Sue found incredible satisfaction and joy through volunteering at Sisters Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store. Her family is incredibly grateful to the other volunteers who showed her such immense kindness and friendship, particularly as her illness increased and she was unable to join them. She moved back to Portland in August this year to be near her daughter’s family for support until her

passing.

Sue and Rick loved traveling and exploring, both along the U.S. west coast and Southwest, and Sue particularly loved reading up on the history of places she visited. She took trips to Scandinavia and to Italy with her sister-in-law in recent years, and in 2019 took a cross-country train trip with her granddaughter. She was a talented seamstress who really enjoyed creating home decorating projects, COVID face masks, and clothing, including those for Habitat dolls. She loved to cook and was constantly trying out new recipes. Her baking was second to none; she never went anywhere without bringing something for her hosts!

Sue is survived by her two daughters and their families, Jennifer and Richard Kollmer and their children Olivia and Michael of Deep River, Connecticut, and Kendra and Thomas Biller and their daughter, Abigail, of Portland, Oregon. She is also survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Kirk and Charlotte Richardson of Sisters, and her nephews Samuel and Henry Richardson, as well as her sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Cathy and Patrick Shepherd of Prescott, Arizona. She will be greatly missed by her feline friends, Cleo and Izzy. Sue’s family is incredibly grateful to Sue’s cousin, Suzanne Sargent Cook, who came from Maine to be with her and provide her comfort in her last days.

In lieu of flowers, Sue’s family requests donations be made in her memory to Sisters Habitat for Humanity, PO Box 238, Sisters, OR 97759, sisters habitat.org/giving/, or to a charity of the donor’s choice that supports people in need. At this time, there is no service planned, and interment will be private.