Marilyn Sue Archerd

Marilyn Sue Archerd passed away on February 26, 2023 at the age of 73 after a decades-long struggle with breast cancer.  “Susie” Stewart was born on March 2, 1949 in Austin, Texas, and embodied the spirit of “Don’t mess with Texas.”  She was a natural storyteller, a voracious reader, and a talented artist.  She nearly went to art school in Mexico City, but enrolled instead at Southwest Texas State to study business, history, and art.

Sue spent her entire career working for the telephone company, first with Southwestern Bell, where she served as a union steward. Her feisty demeanor and warmth of spirit made her a fantastic labor organizer, so good, in fact, that they eventually moved her into management.  Work with AT&T brought her from Texas to California, along with her mother and her daughter, Erin.  She retired in 1996.

Sue married her husband, Doug Archerd, in 1991.  They had many adventures, living in first in California, where they raised their kids David and Erin; Washington state, where Sue helped her son David with his son Christopher and daughter Suki; and in Texas, where Doug had been relocated for his job; before settling in Brighton, Michigan so that Sue could help with her newborn granddaughters, Teresa and Cassandra.  In Michigan she discovered that she loved canoeing on the many lakes near her home.

A tireless promoter of education, Sue never stopped learning, often reading two books a day upon her retirement. A big believer in American democracy, Sue frequently volunteered with voter registration efforts. She was a lifelong supporter of civil rights, often telling her family about the time as a child when she stayed on the school bus because her black friends were forced to attend a different school from the white children.

Sue was preceded in death by her father, Linn Stewart; her mother, A. Marian Cooper; and her son Sean Christopher Stewart. She is survived by her husband Doug Archerd, son David Archerd, daughter Erin Archerd, and grandchildren Christopher and Suki Archerd and Cassandra and Teresa Archerd-Feasel.

Donations can be made in Sue’s name to the American Cancer Society.

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