Susan Barksdale

Susan was born in Hopewell, Virginia, on January 9, 1918, to Wallace Channing Barksdale and Helen Weaver Barksdale. Her siblings were Walter Lane Barksdale, Mary Beverly Barksdale and Wallace Channing Barksdale. She and her family subsequently moved to Greensboro, North Carolina, where Susan resided for almost 80 years.

She graduated with a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1939 and with an M.A. from Columbia University in 1940. She taught high school in Boone, North Carolina in 1940 and then taught college at Averett University in Danville, Virginia, in 1941 before joining the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she was a professor of art for 40 years.

Miss Barksdale was an artist who painted in oils. Her painting "Portsmouth Light" is in the permanent collection of the Weatherspoon Art Museum at UNCG. Selections of her paintings are prized possessions of her family today.

Susan began visiting the island of Ocracoke, North Carolina, before the Second World War. In 1947, she purchased a house in Ocracoke village, where she spent her summers. She had good friends on Ocracoke. Her sister and brothers, her in-laws, nieces and nephews were welcome to Susan's hospitality and house there.

Susan lived with her mother, Helen Barksdale, in Greensboro during the academic year and took care of her during Helen Barksdale's later years. In 2004 Susan moved to Charlottesville, Virginia to live with her sister, Beverly Barksdale Sheppe. Susan survived her sister, Beverly, by eight days. Susan Barksdale was noted during her life for her dry and sometimes sharp humor, her generosity and her concern for nature and animals.

Susan Barksdale is survived by her younger brother, Chan Barksdale of Fort Collins, Colorado; her nieces, Suzanne Sheppe of Charlottesville, Virginia, Leslie Sheppe of Laurel, Maryland, Janan Barksdale of Berlin, Germany, and Susannah Barksdale Alle of Raleigh, North Carolina; and her nephews, Dudley Barksdale of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Calvert Barksdale of New York, New York.

The family wishes to thank all those who cared for Susan during her life. A memorial service is not planned at this time. To honor Susan's life, please make memorial donations to the Ocracoke Preservation Society www.ocracokepreservation.org/. Susan's remains are being handled by the Cremation Society of Virginia.