Susan Mary Steinsieck, 54, Was Artist and Educator

Susan Mary Melikian Steinsieck of Newton died at home on July 3 after a fight with breast cancer. She was 54.

She was the wife of Gregory Steinsieck, head of the ceramics department at Brookline High School in Brookline, and the mother of Marco Steinsieck, a junior at Brown University.

She was born in Leigh, England, on Nov. 30, 1951, to Patricia V. (Heard) Symonds of Providence, R.I., and Edgartown and Harrout Melikian of Scarsdale, N.Y. Her stepfather is Alan E. Symonds and her stepmother is Stephanie Melikian.

Sue grew up in Providence. She received her undergraduate degree from the Rhode Island School of Design and a masters degree from Teachers College at Columbia University.

She moved to Boston in 1987 and to her home in Newton in 1991. She also lived for many years in New York city and Naples, Italy. Susan spent many summers with her family in Edgartown where she enjoyed sailing enormously,

Her multi-faceted creative career included years as a glassblower, a jazz singer, notably with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, and as a Concord jazz recording artist. She also was an early childhood education teacher at the Eliot Pearson School at Tufts University and a painter, illustrator, collagist and ceramicist who exhibited in Boston, New York, Beijing and Valencia, Spain. Her last show was at Habitat in Belmont in June 2006.

In addition to her husband, son and parents, she is survived by sisters Karen, Deborah, Jane and Amy, brothers Stephen, Alan, Ara and Noah and nieces Amelia, Hannah and Lila.