Susan Elaine Nidzgorski

Susan Elaine Nidzgorski, 56, of Haymarket, VA passed away at her home on April 14, 2017 in the comforting arms of her identical twin Joyce, surrounded by her loving two other sisters Jane and Bobbi, after valiantly battling ovarian cancer for three and half years. She was a career middle school science teacher, tennis coach, and professional tennis instructor who added meaning and knowledge to every life she touched.

Born on May 26, 1960 in Wilmington, Delaware to Joseph and Angela (Palczewski) Nidzgorski, Sue grew up in the Penny Hill section of Wilmington, attending schools in the Mount Pleasant School District where she enjoyed science subjects, playing the flute, singing in choirs and enjoyed playing all sports. At the age of 10 she learned the game of tennis from her older sister Bobbi who was instructing in the local recreation department. Susan instantly fell in love with the game that became the center point of her next dozen years of high-level competition, and committed her to a lifetime of passion for teaching the game to others, via on court instruction and coaching high school tennis. After graduating from Mt. Pleasant High School in 1978, she and her twin Joyce captained the girls’ tennis team and led the team at the Number One and Two Singles positions, while winning several state scholastic championships and state/local/regional tournaments. After being actively recruited by the tennis programs of several Division I universities, she chose to attend college and play tennis in her native state.
There, she earned the position of Number One Singles on the women’s tennis team as a freshman. In Sue’s senior year, due to injury, she played number one doubles with her twin, Joyce.
Sue graduated from U of D in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary and Special Education, with an area of interest in Biology and emphasis in Business. Thereafter, she attained a Master of Instruction Degree from the University of Delaware in 1989.
Susan’s career of teaching began within the Upper School of the Alfred I. du Pont Institute and Children’s Hospital (long term rehabilitative hospital with an in-house academic program) in Wilmington. There, she learned and respected the intricacies of providing traditional subject-based instruction to children with significant physical impairments. Over the next two years, having moved to Hilton Head, she taught middle school science and a Language Arts Honors program at the H.E. McCracken Middle School in Buford. Simultaneous with school teaching, and especially during summer school vacations, Sue pursued multiple tennis instructional positions, including at the Sea Pines and Shipyard Plantations. Sue also continued her coaching pursuits there, with a highlight being leading the Hilton Head Prep Boys’ tennis team to a State Championship.
In the summer of 1992, she moved north to northern Virginia where she has made her home for the past 25 years. She briefly taught at Franklin Middle School before joining the staff at Stone Middle School in 1993. She taught biology for one year at Westfield High School in 2002 and then returned to Stone Middle School where she remained as Department Chair of the Science Department until December 2016.
Sue has coached secondary school tennis teams at multiple high schools. Her coaching involved Boys’ and Girls’ teams for many years at Chantilly High School, sometimes encompassing fall and spring seasons. In 2003/2004 she coached the Boys’ and Girls’ teams at Westfield High for one year. Thereafter, she coached the Boys’ Team at Battlefield High School in Haymarket for two years. Sue was named Coach of the Year on multiple occasions by fellow conference coaches. She was a USPTA P1 level teaching professional and was awarded the Mid-Atlantic President’s Award in 2017.
Sue’s love of science and animals of course included being committed to tight bonds with a never-ending string of ownership of dogs, a cat, snakes, rats, and fish. She was especially fond of whales and dolphins and loved to share her knowledge of these mammals with students, family, and friends.
Highlights in Sue’s life include traveling to China under a Fulbright Scholarship, a trip to her descendants’ native homeland of Poland to study and learn Polish at Jagiellonian University, and many trips to Mexico!
Susan’s life was marked by a gigantic, sharing heart. She was always bestowing material gifts as well as the gift of knowledge and experience. Whether it be information about cell division, trees, aquatic life, plants, how to hit an overhead smash, how to combat residential structure pests, or how to plan awesomely fun and educational annual school springtime trips to Florida, Susan threw all of her energy and passion into pleasantly imparting her knowledge with all whose paths crossed with her. Her smile, her words, her positive attitude, her generous gifts, her hearty laugh, her incredible strength, her compassion for all, her humble pride, her competitive fight in sports and against illness, and her never-ending sharing of all that she knew, will be forever engrained in the minds and souls of all who knew her.
Susan is survived by her sister and brother-in-law Jane and Richard Howe of Darlington, MD, their son Artemis “Ricky” Howe and his wife Andrea, and their son, Dominic; sister Bobbi Nidzgorski of Niantic, CT; and twin sister and brother-in-law Joyce and Thomas Doud of Colchester, VT, and their three sons, Joseph and Braeden of Colchester, VT, and Galen of Nashua, NH. Numerous cousins throughout the United States survive Sue. She thoroughly treasured a nurturing role with Logan and Bryce Owens as their beloved "Tia".
On behalf of Sue, the family would like to deeply thank the administration and staff of Stone Middle School for all their love and support of our sister. We would also like to acknowledge the kindness and loving care from the nursing staff and Dr. Bicher at the Woodburn GYN Outpatient Infusion Clinic.
A memorial service to celebrate Susan’s life will be held at Stone Middle School, 5500 Sully Park Drive, Centreville, VA on Sunday, April 30th from 2:00 – 4:00 pm. The service will be in the auditorium followed by a tree planting dedication ceremony near the science wing and concluded with refreshments in the library.
In lieu of flowers, it was Sue’s wish that donations in her memory be made to Stone Middle School (address above) or the Nancy Yeary Women’s Cancer Research Foundation, 351 Hospital Road, Suite 506, Newport Beach, CA 92663, 949-642-5165, www.nancycancer.com
The family is soliciting photos and stories of happy moments you have shared with Sue. Please send any such mementos to the email address of [email protected]