Susan Elizabeth (Pio) Kennedy died on Sunday, April 17 in her home, on her terms and at her time, surrounded by those who meant the most in her life. A childhood cancer survivor, Sue lived her life with courage and a quiet dignity, taking each day as the true gift it is no matter what life brought her way.

Born in New Haven, Conn. to Michael R. Pio, Jr. and the late Jacquelyn (Dion) Pio, she was raised in Webster, her parents’ hometown, and Dudley and educated at Shepherd Hill Regional High School, Framingham State College, and Newton-Wellesley Hospital School of Nursing as an honors graduate.

Sue began her nursing career at Emerson Hospital in Concord before moving to Brighton and Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital, where she worked in the respiratory intensive care unit.

She honored Brian by becoming his wife on Columbus Day in 1984 and shortly after she began her nursing career on Martha’s Vineyard, in the hospital’s ICU. Seeing her skills as a nurse combined with her empathy towards her patients and her compassion with family members, Dr. Gerald Westover approached Sue about becoming a nurse in his office. So in 1986 she left her “nursing buddies” Bobbi Look, Clara Ryan and Beth Smith, among other friends, and moved over to Edgartown, where she began a 30-plus year “adventure” as nurse, confidant, and friend to countless patients, family members and medical professionals.

Whether it was in Edgartown at the Katama Medical Associates with Dr. Westover, Dr. Deitz, and Dr. Tsikitas or at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital with Dr. O’Brien or at the newly formed Pain Clinic, the one constant, day in and day out, year in and year out, was Susan Kennedy. Sue was an outstanding and knowledgeable nurse, a concerned friend who was always ready to help with acts of kindness and a comforting word or a shoulder to lean on.

She never encountered anything in her life in which she did not see the glass at least half full if not overflowing. Despite ongoing illnesses, a direct result of her childhood cancer treatments, she greeted each and every day with a positive attitude, an unbreakable spirit, a smile that would light up any room she entered and an absolutely fantastic sense of humor.

She endured the Red Sox and loved the ocean and “beaching it,” but she was most happy when she was working in her garden or entertaining with her home-cooked, delicious meals, surrounded by her family and friends.

Susan is survived by her husband and best friend of 32 years, Brian P. Kennedy, and her loving son Andrew J. Kennedy and his wife Jennifer. Sue is also survived by her father Michael R. Pio of Auburn, her sisters Mary Ellen (Pio) McMurray and her husband Peter of Ashby, Jane M. (Pio) Sutor and her fiance Thomas Walsh of Oxford, and her brother Thomas M. Pio and his wife Marianna (Shinas) of Woodstock, Conn.. along with three nephews and four nieces whom she absolutely adored. Sue also leaves her father in law Joseph E. Kennedy, her pup Molly, and her best friend for life and fellow R.N. Cheryl Kram.

Donations in memory of Susan can be made to Camp Jabberwocky, P.O. Box 1357, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568.