Age 71, of Winchester, died peacefully on January 14, 2017 following an eleven month struggle with brain cancer complicated by pneumonia. She is survived by her loving husband Douglas G. Youmans, her beloved son Thomas A. Youmans of Pasadena, CA, and brother Franklin C. Harrah and sister-in-law Patricia R. Harrah of Akron, OH. She is the daughter of Kathryn Sackett Harrah and Clair E. Harrah of Akron.
Susan was born in Akron, OH and attended The Old Trail School in Akron followed by Bryn Mawr College and the University of Chicago. There, she majored in English and received a Master’s Degree in Library Sciences and proceeded to work for two years as an Institutional Librarian at the Washington State Library in Seattle, WA. In 1974 she left Seattle to attend the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with an MBA in 1976.
From 1976 to 1984 she was a management consultant with Arthur D. Little in Cambridge, MA – the first management consulting firm in the country. While there, she took on projects from strategic advising and technological forecasting to leading a re-organization plan for the Library of Congress. In 1990, Susan received a Master’s in Divinity from the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA and turned to focus on the environment, social justice and theology.
In 1998 Susan founded a small non-profit, Environmental Partnerships, through which she fought for the environment, food sovereignty and security, sustainable agriculture, and the local food to table lifestyle. She was instrumental in the purchase of Wright-Locke Farm by the town of Winchester. From May 2012 to Jan. 2016, Susan produced a weekly internet radio program, “What’s for Dinner?”, on CyberStationUSA and was a press-corps agent at many agriculture conferences over this period. She formed and ran numerous farm to table food courses for students within Winchester and the Parish of the Epiphany, to promote sustainable organic agriculture and food equality.
Susan was a passionate person, with a big heart and love for all people. There will be a wake at Lane Funeral Home, 760 Main St., Winchester from 4 to 7 pm on Jan. 27 followed by a funeral service at the Parish of the Epiphany, 70 Church St., Winchester from 10 to 11 am on Jan. 28 with a reception from 11 to noon. For online condolences please visit www.lanefuneral.com. Her spirit lives on in our memory and will continue to light up our lives and the world.