Elisabeth S. Strunk

Elisabeth Susan “Sue” Strunk, age 88 of Holyoke, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, at RegalCare of Holyoke, after a brief battle with dementia complications.
Sue was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 11, 1935, to the late Stuart W. Leck, Sr. and Mildred (Clark) Leck, and was the third of four children; Jean, Stuart, Sue, and Nancy.
She graduated from Cornell with her future husband Hank Strunk, met in the outing club. They settled in Minneapolis, where son Peter and daughter Martha were born.
In 1966 the family moved to Syracuse, New York. Sue ran the home, the children, and the activities, first in the married-student housing above Colvin, and then in the wonderful house on Westcott. Picnicking, swimming, camping, and canoeing were frequent activities, both local and in the Indian River Lakes or Adirondack regions.
Sue cared deeply about fairness and kindness. She and Hank attended Grace Episcopal Church in Syracuse, and were active with the Syracuse Peace Council, the New Environment Association, and integration efforts in the Syracuse schools.
In 1977, Sue and Hank co-founded, and moved with Martha to, the Common Place Land Cooperative in Truxton, New York. Sue loved the community, loved the country, and continued to live at CPLC until only two years before her passing.
All throughout her long life, family and friends will recall what a pleasure it was to be there as Sue’s smart workmanship, or wry wit, or warm hospitality, or earnest caring, shone through. She will be greatly missed.
Sue is survived by her brother, Stuart Leck, Jr., her sister, Nancy Barrett, her son Peter and his wife Dawn Chipman, and by many cousins, nieces, and nephews.
A celebration of Sue’s life will be held at a later date, in Cortland, New York.