Susan Mayer Bleiberg, age 82, passed away on March 9, 2022, after a long illness. She resided at Cadia Silverside in Wilmington, DE. She was born in Washington, DC, to her parents, Isadore and Sara Bleiberg. After her father died unexpectedly in 1945, she and her mother moved to Wilmington, DE, to live with her grandparents.
Susan graduated from P S DuPont High school and went on to Temple University, graduating as a Registered Dental Hygienist in 1959. Soon after, Susan married, resided, and worked as a dental hygienist in New England for eight years until her divorce, at which time she moved back to Wilmington. Wishing to go on an adventure, Susan moved to Basel, Switzerland, and worked for a year and a half. It was a wonderful experience.
Susan returned to Delaware where she decided “Thanks to a required creative writing class, I rekindled an interest in doing just that—writing…..Armed with my dental hygiene degree and a passion for storytelling, I took a job in the Newark School District for ten years and became known as the ‘Beloved Tooth Fairy’.” During that time she also had her own business making greeting cards called “Susan Mayer Bleiberg Ink”. Her designs and messages were creative and fun. Susan’s next venture was studying art and art history for two years at the Barnes Foundation in Merion, PA, after which she spent several years leading workshops for teachers on the Barnes philosophy.
Susan was a compassionate advocate for people compromised by physical and mental challenges, often going to Dover to lobby on their behalf. She was also an activist in her community for issues that were important to her. She loved and respected animals and supported a number of organizations whose missions were to save and protect.
In summary, Susan was generous with her time, energy and money and when she heard of a situation where she could help, she would do it. She was kind, a loyal friend and never lost her great sense of humor.
After a life changing fall in 2007 Susan became confined to a wheelchair. When it became considerably more difficult to manage on her own, she went to several assisted living facilities, ending up in the long term care at Cadia Silverside for her last seven years. The high level of care and the kindness of the staff are deeply appreciated by those who knew, loved and were blessed by her.
Graveside services at the Jewish Community Cemetery will be held on Thursday, March 17th at 12:00 pm. If you wish to make a donation in Susan’s memory, please consider Forgotten Cats at https://forgottencats.org/services/donate/ or Sojourners’ Place at https://sojournersplace.org/index.html.
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