Susan Brown of Southampton and Sag Harbor dies at 96

Susan Brown

Susan Brown (née Hughes) of Southampton and Sag Harbor died on July 3 at Southampton Hospital. She was 96.

Known to most of her relatives simply as Aunt Sue, she was born December 14, 1913, in Greenwich Village, New York, to Mary and Joseph Hughes, and spent most of her life in Ridgewood, Queens, before moving to Sag Harbor in 1990 after the death of her husband, Nick Brown. During her time living in Queens, she worked at Metropolitan Life in Manhattan for 40 years.

She was the youngest of six children, with siblings Henry, May, Margaret, Alice and Andrew, and she and her brother Andrew were the only members of the Hughes family who were not born in Ireland. Nonetheless, she was always proud of her Irish heritage and loved to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, her favorite holiday.

Although she never had children of her own, she became a beloved aunt to her nine nieces and nephews. Family members said this week that her unfailing presence as a loving aunt will be one of her greatest legacies—at the time of her death, she had many nieces and nephews, reaching all the way to great-great-grandnieces and nephews.

She had a strong Catholic faith and cherished spending time with her extended family, many of whom live in Sag Harbor and on or near Long Island and who visited her ofter while she was a resident at the Southampton Care Center during the later years of her life.

Mrs. Brown is remembered by her many relatives for living a simple yet joyful life. She enjoyed reading and avidly collected the Reader’s Digest. She also loved animals and frequently enjoyed visits from the family dogs. She never drove a car and never set foot on an airplane, but used to travel out to Montauk frequently with her husband for small vacations.

She also had a love for shopping and had an extensive collection of hats, jewelry, scarves and clothing, much of which she gladly gave as gifts to her family members. Many of Mrs. Brown’s grandnieces and grandnephews—now with grown children and even grandchildren of their own—remember looking forward to being taken out to dinner by their aunt and uncle on special occasions.

Aunt Sue never missed a birthday or special event and always remembered to send a card or gift. During her time living in Sag Harbor, she enjoyed attending the weddings of her great-grandnieces and nephews, and was always ready to dance and sing, even from her wheelchair.

Her family said she always had a joy and appreciation for life and the love she was surrounded by, even at an advanced age when she could not enjoy all the aspects of life she used to.

Mrs. Brown is survived by a multitude of nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, great-grandnieces, great-grandnephews and even several great-great-grandnieces and great-great-grandnephews.

A funeral mass was held at St. Andrew’s Church in Sag Harbor on Wednesday, July 7; interment was alongside her husband at Calverton National Cemetery.