Suzanne Aversano, age 75 years, of Raritan Township, NJ, died peacefully on Sunday, November 20, 2022, at Hunterdon Medical Center, Raritan Township, NJ, surrounded by her loving family.

Born on December 2, 1946, in Somerville, NJ, daughter of the late Peter Thomas and Ruth Wallraff Hughes, Sue was raised in Somerville and had lived in the Maple Glen section of Raritan Township since 1978.

Graduating from Somerville High School in 1965, Sue would continue and earn her BA in Elementary Education from Trenton State Teachers College in 1969, and begin teaching that fall. For more than thirty-two years, Sue was a beloved second grade teacher at Woodfern Elementary School, in Hillsborough, NJ.

Room 108 at Woodfern was well associated with being a safe place, where a child would learn not just about reading, writing, and arithmetic, but would be well-cared for and loved by a woman who looked at each student as a member of her own family. The more than six-hundred students who passed through her classroom doors will forever remember her as being tough but fair, and always having had their best interests at the foundation of every decision she made. Sue was so beloved by both her students and colleagues, that in her honor, upon retirement, her room number was retired, as there would never be another Mrs. Aversano. Her room then became room 107A, with the legends of “Mrs. A” living on for years. The sign for Room 108 was lovingly gifted to her and hung proudly in her home for all to see as she would happily tell anyone and everyone about her ”Woodfern Family”.

With an outgoing persona and a heart of love, Sue simply enjoyed living life each and every day. A natural-born leader from childhood, she tried to live her life by doing right by all people; being good and kind was part of her foundation.

Never meeting a stranger, she made friends naturally as she enjoyed learning about others and took a genuine interest in helping everyone reach their full potential.

Family was her North Star, and since childhood she had a special relationship with her younger sisters, Sharon and Danielle.  Sharon fondly recalls that Sue always looked out for their best interests. It was in high school, where Sue would meet Mr. James Aversano, where the pair would form a friendship. Upon graduation, they would go their separate ways and it would be after he returned from service as a Green Beret in the United States Army where Sue and Jim would reconnect and fall in love.

With Jim being an educator as well, the couple was keenly in tune with one another, and their relationship was just as much of a “best friend” relationship as it was husband and wife. They had fun together and worked hard for the community at large to make it a safe and enjoyable place for all people.

Their union would bring them a son, Michael, who was the apple of his parent’s eyes. To say Sue was a proud mom would be an understatement; through and through, she was there for Michael at every turn. She was so devoted to Michael and the community that she even served as President of the Hunterdon Central Main Booster Club for several years even after Michael had graduated!

Michael would later meet his partner in life, Karen, and the couple would give Sue the promotion she always dreamed about as she earned the title of “Granny Sue” with the birth of her first granddaughter, Amelia. Amelia would be followed only a few short years later by her second granddaughter, Callie. Granny Sue would become the quintessential “Cool Granny”, being there for Amelia and Callie on every level.

With Jim’s passing in 2003 after a short but valiant battle against colon cancer, Sue rebounded and found her passion in life helping to care for her granddaughters. She was there for every school event and their friends all loved to hang out with Granny Sue because of her genuine, non-judgmental attitude.

In addition to caring for her family and friends, Sue continued to volunteer for many community projects, including the Flemington-Raritan Community Pool and the Flemington Library, where her smile and zest for life was contagious.

Greatly enjoying the outdoors, she and her sister Sharon continued the tradition that Jim, Michael, and she had started many years before when they were a young family just starting out: visiting National Parks throughout the United States. Some of her favorite places included Zion National Park and Smokey Mountain National Park. These yearly adventures were always looked forward to with great enthusiasm.

The poet Ralph Waldo Emerson penned the following poem, entitled, Success:

To laugh often and much: To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded.

Though the last several years saw Sue bravely battling breast cancer, it is not her death that will define her legacy, although she fought that battle with the same grace that she lived her life. Instead, Sue Aversano will be forever remembered as a force of nature that loved hard and fiercely. She does leave this world better, because her presence will be felt daily by all the good she helped to create, and that which will perpetuate for generations to come.

In addition to her parents and husband, Jim, she was preceded in death by her sister Danielle Nielsen and her brother-in-law Ronald Padinske.

Surviving are her son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Karen Aversano; her granddaughters, Amelia James Aversano and Callie Kathleen Aversano; her sister, Sharon Padinske; her sisters-in-law, Margaret Vizioli and Gloria Aversano; nieces and nephews, Tracy Sanders, Vickie Nees, Richard Padinske, Gary Vizioli, Mark Vizioli, and Scott Vizioli; several extended family members; her Woodfern Elementary School Family; and many dear friends made wherever her path of life went.

All are invited to join the family for a gathering on Saturday, December 3, 2022, from 2:00-5:30 p.m. in the Chapel of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ.

Words of comfort and recollection will take place at 5:30 p.m. following the gathering and to which all are welcome.

Realizing that some may be unable to attend the life celebration service, this service will be live-streamed, with the stream being active starting at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday. To watch, go back to Sue’s main page and click play button under “Service Video” where you see the video screen.

Following the gathering and life celebration service, all are invited to join for food and fellowship at Razberry’s Banquet & Conference Center, 834 State Route 12, Frenchtown, NJ 08825, from 6:00-10:00 p.m.

Interment will take place privately.

You are encouraged to visit Sue’s permanent life celebration site at www.wrightfamily.com to light a candle of hope, leave messages of condolence, share words of comfort and recollection, and post photographs of her life.

Contributions for a memorial in her honor may be made to the Flemington Free Public Library, 118 Main Street, Flemington, NJ 08822.

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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned & operated “Life Celebration Home”

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