Susan Barbara Dresner

If you ever had a chance encounter with Sue Dresner, odds are she made you laugh. If you were fortunate enough to really get to know her, she likely took hold of your heart. Sue passed away on March 11th after a year-long battle with cancer and a lifetime of bringing joy, laughter and happiness to family, friends and strangers. 

Sue was just plain fun. She would flash a big, infectious smile that wrapped around you like the warmest comforter on the coldest day.  It was just damned near impossible not to smile around Sue. She was blessed with a personality that brought people into her and out of themselves. The party never truly got started until Sue arrived, and she was almost always the last to leave.

But you needed to be on guard around Sue, for she also was blessed with a quick wit and a devilish way of tossing zingers at anybody any time. In Pre-Op before one of her recent surgeries, the anesthesiologist introduced himself, and Sue’s first words were: “Are you old enough to vote?” When asked by a honeymooning couple what her secret was for a long, successful marriage, Sue simply replied, “No one left — no one died.” If you tried to get her first, she was likely to smile and just say “bite me!”

Sue’s friends and neighbors, golfing partners, pickleball pals, walking companions, book club members and beach buddies are a treasure trove of Sue stories. People not only enjoyed her company, they laid claim to her. She was rarely called just Sue or husband Mark’s Sue, she was “Our Sue.” Yep, “that’s our girl!”

Sue’s take on golf was something any competitive player could never understand. She never saw the game as a challenge to be mastered, but rather as just another opportunity to have fun with friends. She once won the Raritan Valley Country Club Nine-Holers Championship. Her name forever emblazoned on a clubhouse placque, but she was much prouder for having been named “Best Dressed.” She and her buddies were known to break into rousing choruses of “Oklahoma” much to the chagrin of anyone trying to putt nearby. And she popularized the scorecard notation of “4C.” Ask what the “C” was for, she’d proudly tell you “I cheated.”

She wanted her obituary to state that she considered herself the luckiest woman in the world because she got to do exactly what she wanted to do with her life — be a mother and homemaker (at a time when it wasn’t considered cool) — and she met the man who enabled her to do it. Her best work and greatest legacy are her three sons Matthew, Michael and Erik. She was a great hostess, an impressive decorator, a fine cook, an amazing gardener and a Picasso with gift wrap. She was a generous soul, ready and willing to share her time and resources in support of a wide variety of worthy causes.

Born in Port Chester, NY, on March 7, 1951, Sue was the second of eight children born to John A. Nye and Elizabeth Anne Emerson Nye. She graduated Rye High School and attended Syracuse University where she met Mark Dresner, her best friend of 50 years and her beloved husband of 48.  Mark and Sue lived in Watertown, NY; Danbury, CT; Goshen, NY; and Basking Ridge, NJ before moving to Southport, NC in 2011.

Sue is survived by husband Mark; sons Matthew, Michael and Erik; granddaughters Emma, Vanessa, Jackson and Charlie; grandson, Steven; sisters Beth Stookey, Cathy Nye, Connie Nye, Jayne Nye, and Maggie Nye; brothers John and Steven; and countless nephews and nieces.

No services are planned at this time. A Celebration of Life will be held later in the year when it is safer for her many friends and family members to gather. Donations in Sue’s memory may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital at www.stjude.org 

Online condolences may be made at www.brunswickfuneralservice.com

Brunswick Funeral Service, Southport/Oak Island