Susan Bridge Blair, of Brunswick, Maine, died on June 21, 2018 at her residence at Horizons. She was 89 years old.
The daughter of Dorothy (Flint) and George Leighton Bridge, she spent her early childhood years in Clayton, Missouri, before her family moved to Walpole, New Hampshire, in a farmhouse her father built. There she fell in love with horses, nature, and art.
After elementary school, she graduated from the Stoneleigh-Burnham School in Greenfield, Mass., and then the Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston, with honors.
Her chosen medium became printmaking and over the years she illustrated books for children and exhibited artwork in galleries.
In 1952, she married Whitney Blair and they raised their four children in Rye, New York, where Susan was one of the founders of the Rye Arts Center. She later also ran a bed and breakfast in their family home.
Mrs. Blair was always active in the communities she lived, and focused on arts, nature, and sustainable living — and enjoyed being with other people who shared those interests. She will also be fondly remembered by family, friends, and those who cared for her in recent years for her sense of humor and contagious laugh.
The Blairs retired in 1996 to Brunswick, where they relished the company of family and a welcoming community of friends.
She is survived by her husband Whitney Blair, her daughter Susan Blair Brew, her daughter Kathy Blair Beringer and husband Fred Beringer, her son Tim Blair and wife Kate Dempsey, and her twin sister Helen Bridge Boynton, all of whom reside in Maine. She was predeceased by her son Whitney “Pete” Pierpoint Blair, who died in 2009 and is survived by Pete’s wife, Lark Blair. She is also survived by 12 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.
The family is deeply grateful for the loving and attentive care that was provided to Susan at Horizons, in Brunswick, Maine.
The family is planning a service in the fall. Donations in memory of Susan Bridge Blair may be made to the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, in Brunswick, Maine.
