It is with immeasurable sadness that the family of Susan D. MacDonald announces her passing at age 71, after a long struggle with COPD, on September 7, 2020 in Amherst Massachusetts. Born in Nashua, New Hampshire, Susan was a graduate of Nashua High School. An Amherst resident for 32 years, she was retired from the School of Nursing and Public Health at UMASS, Amherst.

 Susan loved Bob Dylan and the ocean and delighted in her grandchildren, who called her “Nanni.” She was a fierce and loving protector of her children and a champion of human and civil rights. She had a wicked sense of humor, was generous and kind, and also irreverent and tenacious. Susan lived the nine lives of a cat and she will be missed very much.

 Susan is predeceased by her parents Douglas H. and Kathryn B. MacDonald. She is survived by Miso the cat; daughter Shannon Golden and son-in-law Jerome Golden, daughter Rachel Roberson, and son Marcus Roberson; her grandchildren Heaven, Zoe, and Xavier Golden; her siblings Deborah, Kathryn, Douglas, and Jean MacDonald; nephew Ian MacDonald, and niece Kiera MacDonald-Morelli. 

In light of the pandemic and in keeping with Susan’s wishes for simplicity, a family remembrance and ocean scattering will be planned for a later date. Donations in her honor are encouraged to the American Lung Association (lung.org).