Susan A. Sluyter

Susan A. Sluyter passed away at Deerfield Retirement Community in Asheville, North Carolina, on Friday, July 4, 2025, at the age of 78.

Born in Niskayuna, NY, on October 4, 1946, Susan attended 13 schools before going to college as her father’s job required frequent moves. She often said the first thing she did in each new town was to find the Catholic Church and the library. In college, Susan was inducted into an all-boys Jewish debating team where she flourished and was even taken home to meet the mothers. In 1970 she graduated from the University of New Hampshire Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and in 1972 she received a Masters degree in Counseling from the same institution. She was Dean of Students at Colby/Sawyer College in New London, NH from 1972-1974, where she was so beloved by the students they dedicated the Yearbook to her.

Susan’s corporate career began in 1974 when she joined the Mead Corporation in Dayton, Ohio, hired to supervise a staff of corporate professionals and consult with operating executives on human resource development. From 1976-1982 she held the position of Vice President of Personnel and Organization Planning for the Singer Corporation, where she reported directly to the president of the American Meter Division. In addition to developing policies and programs, as well as the strategic plan, she traveled internationally to conduct labor negotiations. Susan was very proud of her unbroken record of never losing a case. In 1982, she co-founded a management consulting firm, KSI, based in Charleston, SC.

In addition to her professional career, Susan chaired several non-profit boards, including Big Sister/Big Brother Association in Philadelphia, PA, and the National Heart Association Board in Westport, CT, and Charleston, SC. During the mid-eighties, she founded and chaired the Low Country AIDS Services in Charleston, SC. Everywhere she lived, Susan volunteered with Hospice.

In 1991, Susan decided to pursue her doctorate in Clinical Psychology and enrolled in the Fielding Institute in Santa Barbara, CA, where she received her PhD in 1996 with Highest Honors. The faculty and her dissertation committee were so impressed with her work that she was welcomed into the elite Society of Scholars.

Susan has called Western North Carolina home since 1990. She and Judy built an Inn and conference center in 1995 in Fairview, NC, which they called Wintersun, and where they kept their horses and many homeless dogs and cats that wandered onto the property. Here, Susan ran staff and board development seminars for non-profit professionals. Later, they opened the house to guests as a B&B Country Inn, and still later as a vacation rental home. After moving to Fairview, Susan offered pro bono consultation for the Center for Equitable Justice, Potter's Touch, YWCA, and Stillpoint Ministries.

In addition to enjoying her beloved Wintersun, Susan was an avid reader, consuming as many as 2-3 books a day. She loved her in-home library where she was surrounded by her favorite authors. Another passion was gathering friends and family at Wintersun and cooking for the many who were invited regularly. Susan’s avocation was decorating. Having moved often with her work, she had collected many sources of decorating ideas. During the “Inn” years, many professional decorators wrote lengthy accolades in their reviews praising Susan’s eclectic decorating skills. But what gave her the greatest joy was holding an infant…whether it was equine, canine, feline, or human. While at the grocery store, if she heard a baby crying, she would offer to hold the child while the mother shopped.

Susan had a wonderful and creative sense of humor, a quick wit, and always a helpful word. During the Inn years, she would often spend hours counseling guests who were dealing with traumatic issues, often referring them to therapists in their home cities all over the country. Susan was an amazing listener, and she made you feel seen and heard as if no one else was present. Every person she encountered went away feeling just a little bit better about themselves. Her belief in God informed so much of who she was and how she lived, and she made a difference in this world.

She was the daughter of the late Edgar Davis Sluyter and Helen Cronin Sluyter. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her sister Linda Sluyter Gurik.

She is survived by Judith Marie Carter of Fairview, NC, her wife of 33 years, her brother Kevin Michael Sluyter and his wife Susan Doman Sluyter of Terre Haute, Indiana, her sister Karen Sluyter Maningas of Manchester, New Hampshire, and her nieces and nephews Erin Sluyter Gradert, Sean Michael Sluyter, Michael and Myrna Maningas, Kristen and Shawn Baskerville, Thomas and Candice Maningus, Tara and Rob Mcintire, and Kelly Gurik.

A celebration of her life will be held at Wintersun at a later date. Please send contributions to FoodforFairview.org or Project Hickory Nut Gap (projecthickorynutgap.org).

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