Susan E. Copeland

Susan (“Sue”) Copeland of Framingham, Massachusetts died unexpectedly on the morning of Sunday, March 22. She was 79 years old.

Sue grew up in Brighton and Newton. She attended Brimmer and May School and then Connecticut College where she majored in German and graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Soon after graduating from college she joined the Gillette Company in Boston where she worked in Information Technology; her colleagues regarded her as a crackerjack COBOL programmer.

Sue enjoyed working on her home computer, following the stock market and keeping abreast of the latest political news. She contributed to and remained active in Democratic Party organizations, Sudbury Valley Trustees, and Jewish philanthropies, especially Jewish Family Services. She was an avid and excellent golfer and ice skater. Sue also enjoyed traveling and spending time with her beloved late husband, Klaus Pichler, and with friends in Florida, where Sue would happily sun and socialize at the pool. Despite pain and chronic health conditions in later years, Sue never lost her capacity to laugh at a good joke or find humor in the circumstances of her own situation. She coined the word “poofy,” her synonym for “abracadabra,” as in “I pushed the button and poofy, it came on.” Sue was unique and will be greatly missed by all those who knew her and enjoyed her company and generosity.

Sue is survived by her dear friend, Hilda Zinner of Dennis, MA, and Hilda’s daughters, Heather Spence, and Melissa Colten, her husband Georgi, and their children Sophie, Alexander, and Theo, to whom Sue became an adopted aunt. She also leaves behind a cousin, Susan Feldman of CT, her ex-husband, Gary Copeland, close friends and neighbors Susan Gordon and Catarina Hovey of Framingham, William and Laurel Curtis of Bristol, Rhode Island, and her cherished cat, Sasha.

A small graveside service will be held at Edgell Grove Cemetery, 53 Grove Street in Framingham, where she will be buried next to her husband, Klaus Pilcher. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to Sudbury Valley Trustees or Jewish Family Service of Metrowest. Condolences may be left on Sue’s online guest book at [URL]. A memorial service for Sue will be held at a later date.