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Sue Ellen Seely York, Ph.D., died on June 17, 2014, surrounded by family and friends after a six-year battle with breast cancer.
Sue was born on May 17, 1973, in San Antonio, Texas, where she grew up and graduated from Clark High School. After a lifetime of attending football games with her family, including the Texas-Oklahoma game every year, Sue excitedly followed in her Mom's (Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy, 1965) and Dad's (Doctorate of Jurisprudence, 1963) footsteps to The University of Texas. While at Texas, Sue, as expected, thrived. She lived at the Scottish Rite Dormitory her freshman year, where she, like her mother before her, discovered SRD's famous CCBs (and successfully recreated them for special occasions), was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, where she made lifelong friends, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders in 1995. Sue went on to earn her Master of Education (Educational Psychology/Special Education) at the University of Houston in 1998 and later returned to Texas where she earned a Doctorate of Philosophy (Early Childhood Special Education) in 2006. Her dad proudly declared after her doctoral hooding ceremony that her third degree meant that she now outranked him, her mom, and her brother as they only carried two degrees a piece. Sue found this very satisfying - deservedly so!
Armed with her education, Sue was determined to help children with disabilities. She spent years in elementary classrooms teaching young children and, while a professor at the University of Texas, teaching and mentoring future teachers. Sue's enthusiasm for Texas sports was not limited to football. On a warm spring day while watching Texas defeat the Aggies in baseball, Sue met her future husband and love of her life, Chris York. Sue and Chris were inseparable from that moment on, and on January 14, 2001, they married at sunset on a sailboat in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Typical of Sue, their celebration was an intimate one of close friends and family, memorably concluded by local fireworks that just may have been a little too close for comfort! Sue's and Chris's family grew, first with their dog Ava, and then finally with the arrival of their beautiful twin daughters, Reese Abigail and Lila Gwendoline. Her girls were her greatest joy, and despite her illness, she gave them continual positive experiences and memories, whether it was mommy time, swim lessons, dance classes, or long weekends at the lake. Many of Sue's happiest days were spent at her family's lake house at Lake LBJ (or the "yake," as her brother Jeff called it when they were young). The lake brought never-ending relaxation, laughter and enjoyment for her family and friends. Even in the face of her illness, Sue considered herself to be so fortunate. In addition to her cherished family, Sue had many lifelong friends to whom she was fiercely loyal, as they were to her. We all will miss her tremendously. Sue is survived by her husband Chris and their two daughters, Reese and Lila, of Spring Branch; her parents Myrle and Claxton Seely of Austin; her brother Jeff Seely, of Houston, and his children, Jenna and Jack; and countless extended family members and dear friends.
MEMORIAL SERVICE SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 2014 11:00 A.M. ST. PAUL'S LUTHERAN CHURCH 29797 US HWY. 281 N. BULVERDE, TEXAS. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul's Christian Day School, 29797 US Hwy. 281 North, Bulverde, Texas 78163. You are invited to sign the Guestbook at www.porterloring.com Arrangements with PORTER LORING MORTUARY NORTH 2102 N. Loop 1604 East, San Antonio, Texas 78232 (210) 495-8221
Published in the Austin American-Statesman (TX) - Thursday, June 19, 2014
Published online by the Porter Loring Mortuary, San Antonio, Texas
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