Suzanne Petrill

Suzanne Petrill, formally of Jeannette, passed peacefully on to be with her Lord while surrounded by family on Thursday, September 1, 2022.

This obituary is almost impossible to write. While our Lord Jesus knew every part of Sue, the rest of us only got a peek into the complicated woman He made. If you knew Sue, you only knew a piece of Sue.

You may have known the young girl traveling from city to city over her youth following her father's jobs. You may have known the quiet girl who had trouble making friends in all those new schools. You may have known the wild child that dyed her parents’ curtains purple while they were on vacation. You may have known Sue while the Lord was pouring imagination, wonder, and knowledge into her being, and giving her the gift of creativity.

You may have known the 20yo woman who got pregnant and married her Vietnam veteran boyfriend, and ended up the single mother of three young girls whose husband came and went in and out of her life over five years (which is how she got three young girls). You may have known that woman when she finally met a strong and stable man, her late husband Sam, and his young boy, Dan. When the Lord blessed her with a marriage that brought our beloved father and their four children together, and made us this family.

You may have known the woman in her 30s and 40s in a loud, crazy marriage, with anywhere from four to six children from that blended family living under the roof at any time, while she worked long hours and her husband worked multiple jobs during lay-offs. You may have known the saleswoman from JCPenney, or the church secretary, or the administrator at a business. You may have known that mother who taught her daughters to never leave the house without beautiful fingernails, and who filled her children’s lives with God, imagination, loud fights, quiet talks, tears, and laughter.

You may have known the woman in her 50s who desperately missed her sisters that she lost too young, and felt so blessed to be Aunt to the children of those sisters. You may have known the woman who prayed her son through a war, watched her children get married, became a grandma, and taught so many bible studies. You may have been blessed to be one of those grandchildren with whom she shared her love of art, music, imagination, glitter, reading, debate, and whom she loved so, so much. You may have known that woman who questioned and challenged EVERYTHING, and made everyone around her smarter and stronger.

You may have known Sue in her 60s when she became a lay minister and took the reins at the church of her youth. When she helped start a-clothes closet at that church. You may have known her when God really spread his love through her intelligence and strong-willed spirit.

You may have known the Sue of her 70s when she was diagnosed with cancer, lost her husband and really taught us all what strength looks like. When she charmed the doctors, impressed the nurses, continued to minister to those she met in chemo centers, and took over the bible study at her assisted living facility. When she was never scared of life after death, but definitely scared of dying. You may have known her when God calmed her fears of dying in those final days.

You may have called her Mom, Sister, Grandma, Graham Cracker, Aunt Sue, Anne-T-Sue, Pastor Sue, Sue, Ennazus Retsew, Espy, or any of the other creative names she often signed on her beautiful cards and works of art. No matter which Sue you knew, we know you join us in smiling through your tears at her strong-willed spirit, which now rests in peace with God. We hope you will join us this week to tell us the stories of the Sue you knew, and honor her memory.

Sue is survived by four children (Roberta (Sittig) Serbin and husband Edward, Daniel Petrill and wife Brandy, Rebecca (Sittig) Florey and husband Patrick, and Shelby (Sittig) Berry; and six grandchildren (Tulip Serbin, Jacob Berry, Anthony Berry, Mollie Serbin, Hannah Florey, and Jack Florey).

Friends will be received 4 to 7pm Sunday in the John V. Graziano Funeral Home Inc., 228 North 2nd St. Jeannette. A funeral service will take place 11:00am Tuesday in the First Baptist Church, 131 North 2nd St. Jeannette with Pastor Charles Bowser officiating. Interment will follow in the Jeannette Memorial Park, Penn Twp. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Community Closet at First Baptist Church, 131 N Second Street, Jeannette, PA. 15644.