TOPSHAM – Susan “Sue” Elizabeth Bailey passed away peacefully on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at The Highlands in Topsham, following a valiant ten-month fight against lung cancer and a metastatic brain tumor.

Sue was born on July 2, 1946, to the late Frederick Clinton Bailey and Doris Clara (Dorman) Bailey in Chicago, Ill. She graduated from Darien High School in Darien, Conn. and the University of Connecticut where she majored in Retail.

Sue worked for Carroll Reed Ski Shop in North Conway, N.H. as the Women’s Wear Buyer. She was responsible for travelling throughout Great Britain and Europe and ordering new clothing lines for the store and its seasonal catalog.

In her free time Sue liked to ski in the winter and would spend many weekends in the summer at the family cottage on Orrs Island, Maine. In the 1980s she served as Treasurer and Board Member of the Orrs-Bailey Yacht Club. She loved to sail, sew her own clothing, knit sweaters, make quilts and ornaments for craft fairs, and play bridge. She also had a passion for collecting antique medicine bottles and advertising cards.

Sue moved back to Connecticut and changed careers into high-tech. She worked at Wang Laboratories, Inc. in Stamford as a District Order Processor. Then she transferred to Wang headquarters in Lowell, Mass. as a Corporate Systems Analyst. Before Wang filed for bankruptancy in 1992, she worked for Bank of America in Boston where she worked in Project Management with an emphasis in Risk Management.

After her retirement, Sue moved to Brunswick where her interest in family genealogy and the American Civil War blossomed. She became a docent at the Joshua Chamberlain Museum and a member of the Joshua L. Chamberlain Civil War Round Table, the Pejepscot Historical Society and the Pejepscot Genealogical Society.

As the winters became harder for her, she decided to move south and found Southport, NC to be her favorite town. She moved there permanently in 2014 and became a member of the Brunswick County Civil War Round Table. Sue often travelled by paddle-wheeler on Civil War tours along the US rivers. She loved exploring the plantations and battlefields they stopped at, and meeting and listening to Civil War authors who were guest speakers on the tours.

Sue leaves behind two sisters and brothers-in-law, Barbara McGowen (Jay) of Indian Harbour Beach, Fla. and Orrs Island, Maine, and Joyce Duda (Len) of Great Island, Maine; one niece Kate Wing (Miles), nephew David Duda (Jackie), nephew Steven Duda (Darcy); two great-nieces, Tessa Wing and Katharine Duda; and one step-great nephew Sawyer Blodget.

Sue’s family would like to thank the staff at The Highlands and CHANS Hospice for their dedicated care and kind support since Sue’s move to Topsham last December.

A private family service will occur later this spring.

To offer condolences and to share fond memories please visit http://www.brackettfh.com to view Sue’s online memorial.

Memorial donations

may be made to:

Joshua Chamberlain Civil War Round Table

PO Box 1046

Brunswick, ME 04011