Suzanne Poole

HANSON POOLE, SUZANNE (SUZY) Died Wednesday, July 4, 2012 at her home in Albuquerque, NM. She was born August 13, 1926 in Milwaukee, WI. She is preceded in death by her husband Rufus G. Poole, Sr., son, Rufus G. Poole, Jr.; brother, John; and her parents, Adelyn and Roy Hansen. Roy Hanson, when he was 19, bought two patents for 'see-through paper' when he learned about this new product working on the factory floor. His business, producing cellophane, thrived during the Depression and WWII because cellophane protected cigarette packages and cigarettes were generously distributed to soldiers. He eventually sold his prosperous company to Benson and Hedges, the maker of Philip Morris cigarettes thus allowing his daughter to become a generous philanthropist which she was all her life. Suzy, a gifted singer and performer, attended the Curtis Institute for the Arts in Philadelphia 1950, she was the first to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts from Curtis by completing additional courses at the University of Pennsylvania. The summer of 1948, she went to Paris to study music and voice at the Ecole des Arts Americains at Fontanebleau. Upon, returning to New York she joined the starving artist community until she landed a role in the original cast production of Guys and Dolls on Broadway in 1950. She had heard they were looking for a trombone player for the chorus; she spent the weekend teaching herself the trombone, played the one tune she knew for the audition and promised the casting director that she would improve her playing if chosen for the part. He asked her not to improve and cast her immediately as a trombone playing Salvation Army volunteer. In 1955 Suzy performed in the first ever opera broadcast on television, Casey at the Bat shown on the classic television program Omnibus. Suzy was the lead soprano as the Pitcher's Wife. The narrator for the program was a young actor, Ronald Reagan. Suzy married Rufus G. Poole, Sr., the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior and prominent Washington, D.C attorney in 1955. They moved to Albuquerque in 1957 when the city was little more than an outpost and the west side of Rio Grande where they built their home was all ranch land. In 1966 members of the Taos Pueblo asked attorney Rufus Poole to represent them in their six decades of fighting for restoration of the sacred Blue Lake to tribal ownership. An influential conservative New Mexico legislator, Senator Clinton Anderson, was blocking the movement. Rufus Poole died of cancer in 1968 at age 65 but he was ultimately victorious in winning the first ever case of land returned to Indian control when the Blue Lake Restoration Bill passed the Congress and was signed into law by President Nixon in 1970. Every visit to the Taos Pueblo Suzy was treated as an honored guest in gratitude for their work on the Blue Lake project. In 1970 President Nixon appointed Suzy to the John F. Kennedy Center's Advisory Committee on the Arts. Concerned that the arts center in the nation's capital was not doing enough to present artist from the rest of the country, Suzy enrolled herself in the Institute for Arts Administration at the Harvard Business School to prepare herself for negotiations with the arts establishment. And later in 1985, again to reinforce her education and curiosity, she read The Great Books and completed a Masters in Arts at St. John's College in Santa Fe. Suzy was not only a gifted performer and signer; she was a generous and enthusiastic supporter of the arts. She and Rufus were founding member of the Santa Fe Opera in 1957, the year the opera was founded and they raised funds beginning in the 50's to build the first concert hall in Albuquerque, what would become Popejoy Hall. Suzy was a long time and frequent benefactor of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra in Albuquerque and several individual artist. She first underwrote an entire production for the Santa Fe Opera starting in 1986 with Die Fledermaus. She was every production twitch of every season almost with tail. This continued through last year when she underwrote the production of Faust, which she said transported her. In 2007 she expanded her gift from the Opera house stage to the simulcast presentation of La Boheme when residents in Santa Fe and Albuquerque were treated to an outdoor live performance of the opera in Major's Park and Tiguex Park for 1000's of people to enjoy. Suzy loved all kinds of music from cowboy songs to Broadway melodies, Gershwin, Cole Porter and Noel Coward to new and contemporary music. She traveled the world to hear good music and performed with the USO to entertain troops in South Korea. She was particularly inspired by the performance last year at the Lucerne Festival; she was already talking about bringing Custoavo Dudamel's music education program called El Systema here to benefit young singers in New Mexico. Charles MacKay, general director of the Santa Fe Opera, expressed for everyone the sentiment that the music world has lost a great friend and contributor. Suzy was equally committed to the welfare of animals, having rescued several dogs and wolves and supporting organizations such as Best Friends Animal Sanctuary who take care of the ones she could not. And she was a committed environmentalist having preserved several stretches of the Rio Grande and numerous other projects in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and Wild Earth Guardians. She had just completed a project and underwritten the publication of thousands of photos by Adriel Heisey of the Rio Grande from its headwaters to the Gulf taken by air in a book called The Rio Grande An Eagle's View. Suzy was a devoted to her staff in a special way; Mark Parrish who worked for her for 29 years; Monty Blodgett for 26 years, Sandra Leuro, Andres Rios, Aaron Gonzales, Anthony Lloyd, and Jared Morales to mention a few. It is estimated that she put 17 children of staff and friends through school or into educational programs over the years. Suzy will be greatly missed by her step-granddaughter, Bronwyn Poole of Chicago, IL and by her many friends and admirers. There will be a private ceremony for family and friends at her home.

Suzanne Poole

August 13, 1926 - July 4, 2012