WINTERPORT, ME and HOMOSASSA, FL – Susanne (Sue, Sizzy, Suzzie Q) Thibodeau Baumgardner, known lovingly to many as Nanny, 74, passed peacefully to her Lord on May 14, 2024, at her home surrounded by her three daughters. She was born February 4, 1950, in Bangor, Maine, daughter of Reno and Viola (Blethen) Thibodeau.
Sue graduated from Brewer High School in 1968 but attended Bangor and Winterport High School as well. She attended The Music Conservatory in Bangor and sang on the television show Spotlight on Youth in the 1960s. After she became a mom and her youngest started kindergarten, Sue enrolled and graduated from the University of Maine at Augusta with a degree in Music Theory with a concentration in Jazz. While attending college, she introduced Anna and Emily to music festivals and concerts, including seeing Dizzy Gillespie perform in Waterville, Maine.
Always inspired by the beauty of the world around her, she was born and lived as an artist. While in her early thirties, she played the piano and sang in a Blues band. She taught piano to hundreds of young and old musicians and produced yearly piano recitals in nursing homes around the city.
After many years and life changes, she went back to school, taking classes online and in person through the University of Southern Maine and Kennebec Valley Community College, where she completed classes in Communication, Mathematics, Geology, and Creative Writing. She felt it important to keep the mind sharp, so she was a lifelong learner. Her big dream was to become an author, so she set to it and completed a DIY Doctorate in Creative Writing, focusing at different times on poetry, children’s literature, long and short fiction, and nonfiction. The writing legacy that she leaves behind is grand, but her biggest contribution may be her daily gratitudes, which she wrote for the last 11 years and 176 days.
After being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, she decided to record and share what she was grateful for every single day of her life. She affected so many people by reminding them that even on the most difficult days, we have so much to be grateful for. On May 8th, she wrote her last gratitude. After suffering with breathing difficulties for over six years, she finally had the surgery that would allow her to breathe freely. She did not know this would be her last gratitude list, but she ended it with, “I love you all. <3” That was her down to the core. She loved everyone, those she knew and those she had never met.
Beyond being an artist, a mother, a sister, and a best friend, much of Sue’s life centered around the Catholic Church. She was a member of the Daughters of Isabella in Madison, Maine and The Women’s Guild in Homosassa, Florida. She attended Bible Study and mass every morning. In Homosassa, she and her church family gathered to say the rosary, and they prayed together and completed multiple acts of service. Her relationship with God was strong and beautiful. She was one of the lucky ones who actually fell in love with God.
Going to church every day gave her the opportunity to dress up, and she loved to put on her bling and lipstick because she loved to bring light to the world. She truly sparkled. Sue beautified this world, more than she ever knew.
In the end, she repeatedly told us, “Be happy for me.” She was so excited to see Jesus and her beloved husband again, among many others. During her services, we are asking people to wear all the bling you’re comfortable wearing. This occasion is not only celebrating her life on Earth, but we’re celebrating where she is now. She is happy, she is healthy, and she is restored.
Sue was predeceased by the love of her life, Richard “Mike” Baumgardner; her parents, Reno and Viola Thibodeau; her brother, Thomas; sons-in-law, W. Michael Swartz and Howard Labbe, and “sister” Meta Giggey. She is survived by daughters, Amy Labbe, of Washburn, ME, and fiancé, Mike Stevens, Anna Mathieu of Lewiston, ME and husband, Daniel, and Emily Knowles of Lake Charles, LA and husband, Ralph; step-Son, Norbert Freund of Millinocket, ME and wife, Julie; grandchildren, Bethany, Bailey, Violet, Ezra, Izaiah, Thomas, Avery, Heather and Savannah; great-grandchildren; siblings, Maria Thibodeau, Clifford Thibodeau, Fern Mansell, Noel Thibodeau, and Vaughn Thibodeau; God-daughters, Stephanie Burby, Michelle Belanger, and Cynthia Brackett-Vincent; and special sisters, Mary McCready and Ruthanne Gott; and multiple nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Family and friends may visit Friday, June 7, 2024 from 5-7 p.m, at the Hampden-Gilpatrick Chapel of Brookings-Smith, 45 Western Ave, Hampden, ME. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated 10:00 a.m., Saturday, June 8, 2024 at St. Paul the Apostle Parish, St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church, Lower Main Street, Winterport, followed by the Rite of Committal at Oak Hill Cemetery, Winterport. A reception will follow at the St. Gabriel’s Parish Hall.
Memorials can be sent in Sue’s name to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 in lieu of flowers. Condolences to the family may be expressed at BrookingsSmith.com.
When asked, Sue's final message was, “Tell them I love them, I love them all.”
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Sue graduated from Brewer High School in 1968 but attended Bangor and Winterport High School as well. She attended The Music Conservatory in Bangor and sang on the television show Spotlight on Youth in the 1960s. After she became a mom and her youngest started kindergarten, Sue enrolled and graduated from the University of Maine at Augusta with a degree in Music Theory with a concentration in Jazz. While attending college, she introduced Anna and Emily to music festivals and concerts, including seeing Dizzy Gillespie perform in Waterville, Maine.
Always inspired by the beauty of the world around her, she was born and lived as an artist. While in her early thirties, she played the piano and sang in a Blues band. She taught piano to hundreds of young and old musicians and produced yearly piano recitals in nursing homes around the city.
After many years and life changes, she went back to school, taking classes online and in person through the University of Southern Maine and Kennebec Valley Community College, where she completed classes in Communication, Mathematics, Geology, and Creative Writing. She felt it important to keep the mind sharp, so she was a lifelong learner. Her big dream was to become an author, so she set to it and completed a DIY Doctorate in Creative Writing, focusing at different times on poetry, children’s literature, long and short fiction, and nonfiction. The writing legacy that she leaves behind is grand, but her biggest contribution may be her daily gratitudes, which she wrote for the last 11 years and 176 days.
After being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, she decided to record and share what she was grateful for every single day of her life. She affected so many people by reminding them that even on the most difficult days, we have so much to be grateful for. On May 8th, she wrote her last gratitude. After suffering with breathing difficulties for over six years, she finally had the surgery that would allow her to breathe freely. She did not know this would be her last gratitude list, but she ended it with, “I love you all. <3” That was her down to the core. She loved everyone, those she knew and those she had never met.
Beyond being an artist, a mother, a sister, and a best friend, much of Sue’s life centered around the Catholic Church. She was a member of the Daughters of Isabella in Madison, Maine and The Women’s Guild in Homosassa, Florida. She attended Bible Study and mass every morning. In Homosassa, she and her church family gathered to say the rosary, and they prayed together and completed multiple acts of service. Her relationship with God was strong and beautiful. She was one of the lucky ones who actually fell in love with God.
Going to church every day gave her the opportunity to dress up, and she loved to put on her bling and lipstick because she loved to bring light to the world. She truly sparkled. Sue beautified this world, more than she ever knew.
In the end, she repeatedly told us, “Be happy for me.” She was so excited to see Jesus and her beloved husband again, among many others. During her services, we are asking people to wear all the bling you’re comfortable wearing. This occasion is not only celebrating her life on Earth, but we’re celebrating where she is now. She is happy, she is healthy, and she is restored.
Sue was predeceased by the love of her life, Richard “Mike” Baumgardner; her parents, Reno and Viola Thibodeau; her brother, Thomas; sons-in-law, W. Michael Swartz and Howard Labbe, and “sister” Meta Giggey. She is survived by daughters, Amy Labbe, of Washburn, ME, and fiancé, Mike Stevens, Anna Mathieu of Lewiston, ME and husband, Daniel, and Emily Knowles of Lake Charles, LA and husband, Ralph; step-Son, Norbert Freund of Millinocket, ME and wife, Julie; grandchildren, Bethany, Bailey, Violet, Ezra, Izaiah, Thomas, Avery, Heather and Savannah; great-grandchildren; siblings, Maria Thibodeau, Clifford Thibodeau, Fern Mansell, Noel Thibodeau, and Vaughn Thibodeau; God-daughters, Stephanie Burby, Michelle Belanger, and Cynthia Brackett-Vincent; and special sisters, Mary McCready and Ruthanne Gott; and multiple nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Family and friends may visit Friday, June 7, 2024 from 5-7 p.m, at the Hampden-Gilpatrick Chapel of Brookings-Smith, 45 Western Ave, Hampden, ME. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated 10:00 a.m., Saturday, June 8, 2024 at St. Paul the Apostle Parish, St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church, Lower Main Street, Winterport, followed by the Rite of Committal at Oak Hill Cemetery, Winterport. A reception will follow at the St. Gabriel’s Parish Hall.
Memorials can be sent in Sue’s name to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 in lieu of flowers. Condolences to the family may be expressed at BrookingsSmith.com.
When asked, Sue's final message was, “Tell them I love them, I love them all.”
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