Obituary of Susan Ruddy Minard

Susan Ruddy Minard, 66, of Weedsport, NY, passed away on June 1, 2016 at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, NY. A lovable and engaging woman, Susan spent her happiest moments travelling with her husband, cultivating her flowers, visiting with family and friends, spoiling her grandchildren, and reading. An activist and, at times, something of a polemicist, she was a true product of the 1960s; and over the course of her life, she never shed her passion for progressive causes and candidates. She was a longtime member of the Syracuse Peace Council and marched on Washington in the 1970s for an end to the Vietnam War. In 1987, she served as Treasurer to the campaign of Syracuse City Court Judge Langston C. McKinney. Thereafter, following her career in accounting, she focused her energies locally on volunteering and advocacy; she was affiliated for several years with the Ronald McDonald House Charities of CNY, the Weedsport Free Library, and served on the Board of Education in Weedsport. Susan was born in 1949 in Troy, NY and attended parochial schools there through high school, graduating from Our Lady of Victory School in 1963 and Catholic Central High School in 1967. She entered Syracuse University as a member of the Class of 1971, but left in 1970 to start a family. She returned to SU in 1977 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting in 1978. Upon graduation, Susan went to work for the then "Big 8" accounting firm, Touche Ross, in Rochester, NY. She became a Certified Public Accountant in 1981 and in 1983 left to join Keepsake, a Division of Lenox, Inc., in Syracuse as General Accounting Manager. From there, Susan entered private practice as a CPA and served her clients in various capacities. After volunteering for several years at the Ronald McDonald House in Syracuse, she joined the staff in 2007 as House Manager and Volunteer Coordinator and served in that capacity until 2011. Susan is survived by her husband of 46 years, Benjamin R. Minard Jr.; her sons, Benjamin R. Minard III (Anna Swinbourne) of Farmington, CT, and Brendan R. Minard (Erika) of New Orleans, LA; her sister, Deborah J., of Watervliet, NY; her brothers, Daniel A. (Linda) of Oswego, NY; Michael P. (Jeanne) of Lake Katrine, NY; and Stephen J. (Maureen) of Poestenkill, NY; her grandchildren, Lucas X., Cecilia M. and Cyrus S., ten nieces and nephews and their families; and her beloved Black Labrador, Guinness. She was predeceased by her parents, Lt. Cmdr. Daniel H. Ruddy, U.S.N.R. Ret. (1990), and Marjorie D. Ruddy (2005), and her brother, Paul J. (2013) of Philadelphia, PA. At this time no services have been planned. Anyone wishing to make a donation in Susan's memory is encouraged to support the cause of their choice or the Weedsport Free Library.