Our lovely, brilliant, sweet, hilarious, beautiful mother Susan Derrickson Swartley passed away at her home on August 19, 2026 in the presence of her loving and devoted children, Mark D. Swartley and Paige Swartley Christiansen.

            Sue was born on June 4, 1942 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to her parents James C. Derrickson, Sr. and Ernestine Mackey Derrickson. She grew up in Flourtown, Pennsylvania with her three siblings, James C. Derrickson, Jr., Richard B. Derrickson, Sr. and Barbara Derrickson Pilecki. Growing up, she loved spending time with her sweet grandmother Janet and spending summers in Ocean City, New Jersey.

            Susan graduated from Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School in 1960. She was the Editor-in-Chief of the school paper, the Town Crier. She then majored in English at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was a member of the Chi Omega sorority and graduated with her bachelor’s degree in 1964. After graduation, she began her career as an English teacher at Upper Dublin High School, where she met her former husband Leslie K. Swartley. Sue and Les moved to Denver, Colorado for several years, where their children Mark and Paige were born. When they moved back to Pennsylvania, Susan raised their children at home until they were in elementary school and then she returned to work in the business world. Later in life, she fulfilled her long-term ambition to become a nurse. She graduated from Gwynedd Mercy University’s highly regarded nursing program and devoted the rest of her career as a Registered Nurse in various hospitals in Pennsylvania and Florida. She spent the majority of her nursing career in Grand View Hospital’s medical-surgical unit in Sellersville, Pennsylvania, where she was a patient favorite.

            Everyone will remember Sue for her hilarious sense of humor, the twinkle in her eyes, her laughter, her beautiful smile and her laser focus on the happiness of her children, Mark and Paige. Her kids always called her the “World’s Oldest Teenager” because she was so hip and cool and knew all the modern lingo. She was devoted to her children and they worshipped her, in turn. Sue always loved her children’s friends and they loved her back. Besides family, the last visitors to see Sue were Paige and Mark’s closest friends.

            Sue strongly supported her son Mark’s music obsessions and loved to hear about his travels in America and abroad with his bands. She loved nothing more than when Mark brought his guitar to her home, singing and playing beautiful songs for her in either English or Italian. He was a drummer since birth and Sue gave him Folger’s coffee cans as his first drum set when he was a toddler. Always Mark’s most vocal cheerleader, Sue encouraged him as he expanded his musical talents to piano, guitar, hammer dulcimer, washboard and every other instrument he ever tried. She loved seeing Mark perform in so many amazing bands (New Orleans jazz, swing, rockabilly and good old rock and roll), ever since he joined the elementary school’s sixth grade band when he was in third grade. Sue often offered out of the blue to buy him a piece of musical equipment he was desiring, possessing an intuitive knowledge that he was thinking of acquiring something in particular. Sue was always so impressed at Mark’s complete fluency in Italian and she loved hearing him converse on the phone with his friends in Italy.

            Sue was also a huge supporter of her daughter Paige’s academic pursuits and her careers in historic preservation and law. Never once did Sue discourage Paige from anything that piqued her interest, whether it was school, life or love. Sue was her daughter’s best friend, her confidante, her Everything. They were always giggling and chatting and joking around. They talked about books constantly, lending their Civil War and literary fiction favorites for the other to read. Sue often visited Paige during the seventeen years Paige lived in California, once insisting that they walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, a favorite memory. Sue absolutely adored Paige’s husband, Chris Christiansen. Sue and Chris would often laugh together, sharing funny stories and historical facts, or conspiring to treat Paige to something wonderful. Chris was an enormous help in supporting and encouraging Sue both before and during all the years of her illness. They loved each other so much.

            Sue loved to travel with her children, starting with annual summer vacations as a family in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey, with Mark, Paige, Les, Les’ parents Hannah and Howard Swartley and Les’s sister Sharon Swartley. Sue later traveled with Mark and Paige to England, Savannah, Charleston, Gettysburg, Salem and other locales. She had an exciting time with Mark and a friend on a once-in-a-lifetime visit to Italy in 2000. Sue and Paige drove cross-country in 1994 to move Paige to the San Francisco Bay Area for seventeen years. They saw an unbelievable fireball meteor on the way, outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Their last trip together was to the Grand Canyon, Phoenix and Winslow, Arizona.

            Besides her children, Sue’s grand passion in life was stitching her gorgeous and intricate Japanese silk-on-silk embroidery. She studied for many years at the Japanese Embroidery Center in Atlanta, Georgia. She also took Japanese embroidery classes throughout the country with her close stitching friends from around the world. She spent thousands of hours perfecting her embroidery and her beautiful pieces will continue to be displayed for many years to come. Sue was also a voracious reader, focusing on classic literature and Civil War history. She especially loved works by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë and Oscar Wilde, with some John Grisham sprinkled in for variety. Sue loved watching “Downton Abbey” with her children and as a lover of love, Sue enjoyed watching the Hallmark Channel, even though she knew the sappy ending before the movie began.

            For nearly a decade, Sue persevered with grace, humor and strength in the face of her rare illness, Multiple System Atrophy. She always had a positive attitude about it. As a nurse, Sue used all of her medical training to fight to have a good life with the best medical treatments until she passed onto the next realm. From there, she continues to watch over her children with the same tender love that she always showed them here on Earth.

            Mark and Paige profoundly thank Sue’s wonderful neurologist, Dr. Whitley Aamodt, at the University of Pennsylvania’s Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center in Philadelphia. Dr. Aamodt and her team gave Mom such loving, dedicated care for many years and closely supported Mark and Paige as Sue’s primary caregivers. Sue’s phenomenal team of in-home caregivers and physical therapists became well-loved members of the family and gave Sue tender, adoring care and many laughs over the years.

            Sue is survived by her beloved son Mark D. Swartley of West Norriton, Pennsylvania, her beloved daughter Paige Swartley Christiansen and Paige’s beloved husband Chris Christiansen of Perkasie, Pennsylvania, as well as her grand-kitties Luna, Rudy, Phoebe and Murphy. Sue is also survived by her brother Richard B. Derrickson, Sr. (Marie) of Lansdale, her sister Barbara Derrickson Pilecki (Paul) of Kiawah Island, South Carolina, and her sister-in-law Evie Derrickson of Oak Ridge, North Carolina. Sue also had many nieces and nephews who will miss her dearly.

            Sue was predeceased by her parents James C. Derrickson, Sr. and Ernestine Mackey Derrickson, as well as her brother James C. Derrickson, Jr.

            A private Celebration of Life will take place in October at the Pearl S. Buck Estate, a National Historic Landmark in Perkasie, Pennsylvania.

            In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Susan’s name to CURE PSP, 325 Hudson Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10013. CURE PSP is dedicated to finding cures for three types of atypical Parkinsonism, including Sue’s illness of Multiple System Atrophy as well as Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and Corticobasal Degeneration. Above all, you can honor Sue’s memory by being a good person, laughing as much as possible, and savoring the love of family and friends.