Sue Cofer Passes Away at 55

Sue Cofer, the Teacher in Charge at Kids' Base and the Little School passed away suddenly on Monday February 1 at the age of 55. She taught at the school for over a decade and was beloved by the children, their parents and her colleagues. A resident of Wappingers Falls, Cofer is survived by her husband Robert Cofer, three children, Jennifer, James and Matthew as well as two sisters, their husbands and nieces and nephews.

Speaking of Sue's feelings about KBLS, her husband Bob said, "Sue truly loved KBLS, its staff, its parents, but most of all, the children. Little can compare to the love of a child and Sue always enjoyed seeing their smiling faces. She also always accepted the challenges that were presented to her, rolled up her sleeves and went at them. The sense of accomplishment she got from meeting and overcoming those challenges just made her stronger, and she was so happy about the support she felt from everyone there."

Sue leaves a void at the Little School, who is now searching for a new executive director. She was also remembered at Concordia College where she worked at the summer program from 2007-14.

Born in Bronxville on October 15, 1960, Suzanne Rose Kofer was the daughter of Lorraine Taylor and the late Robert D. Taylor. Her funeral service was held at the Hopewell Reformed Church, in Hopewell Junction. A memorial service for Cofer will be held in on Tuesday March 1 at 7:30 pm, location TBD. Donations in her name may be made to The Children's Hospital Foundation at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital. For online condolences and memorial donations, please visit Suzanne's Book of Memories at www.mchoulfuneralhome.com.

Here is the eulogy delivered by Cofer's sister Kathy at the funeral.

It is so wonderful to see all of Suzy's friends, colleagues and relatives here. It just shows that she was so very loved and respected by so many people. It would make her very happy.

My sister and I were very close and would talk all the time. She worked so hard, almost always for other people and I would tell her to take some time for herself. Have a massage, go out for a drink with friends, just go for a walk. And her answer would always be "I'm too busy". No matter how much I badgered her, she would still run around doing things. And Bob would be telling her the same thing. But she didn't listen.

And I realized now that that was who she was. She was a doer and a giver. It gave her satisfaction to do things for her family and friends. She lived her life the way she wanted to and that is the right way to live.

I have so many memories of all the fun times we shared. My children and hers are extremely close, my daughter Jessica even called her her second mommy. We spent a lot of time together including every holiday and so many vacations.

Suzy was a good sport as Jenn and Jessica would always find a way to tease her- from randomly playing her favorite 80's song-Beds are Burning, to sticking loads of pamphlets they would gather from various random places in her drawers, coat pockets and other places. There was the famous baby powder incident, where Jenn poured baby powder all over Jessica when they were little. I freaked out and Suzy just laughed which made me angrier- she brought that up all the time. There were the many times that people would ask us if we were twins and she always had the same reply "she is 4 years older", that always annoyed me which is why she did it.

Then there was her famous "deli voice", the way she recorded her phone message, which would make anyone be afraid to leave a message and her favorite phrases when she got annoyed - oh, fudge, fudgicles and my favorite when she was really angry "shoot the duck." I never figured out what that meant, but we all found it very entertaining.

She was so proud of her children; they were her world. She and Jenn were like sisters sharing so much time together- She was so proud of Jimmy and how happy he was at college and how well he was doing. She also loved cheering Matt (sometimes yelling under her breath) at his baseball games. But Matthew, you still have to wait until 18 to get that tattoo- I know what your mom told you!

She helped my parents out so much and after our father died, she made it a point to call my mom every day and help her whenever she needed anything. She was a wonderful daughter and made my parents proud.

We all marveled at the way Bob loved her- when she would put on make-up he would say "Why bother, you can't improve on perfection." You could tell how much he loved her just by the way he looked at her. He would also say inappropriate remarks to her on purpose, just to make us cringe and her say "Bob, stop."

Last year when my husband Roger and I had our accident, she was my rock. When I couldn't speak, we would text each other at all hours of the night. She comforted me and my children, and I could never thank her enough for all she did. She drove back and forth to the hospital and then the rehab center in Connecticut from her home almost every weekend for over 4 months. And there were some good times at rehab that I've heard such as the time my son put ninja turtle stickers all over her back which she wore throughout the rehab center without knowing. She was always a good sport about stuff like that.

Suzy and I were also lucky enough to take a wonderful trip with our mom to Arizona a couple years ago, and spend time with our sister Karen and her children. Suzy and I also had the opportunity to meet our great-nephew for the first time, which I know made Suzy happy.

She loved Cape Cod so much- Rock Harbor, Provincetown and the place our dad always used to pose her for pictures when she was little - Fort Hill. It was there that she also discovered her love for Cuffy's sweatshirts- Grey Medium Zip up Hoodies. It will be hard to go back there without her.

I only had 5 days from when she was admitted into the hospital and we were talking, until she became unresponsive. 5 days. I am so happy that she knew she was loved by her family. We said we loved each other every time we hung up the phone or left each other, and we meant it.

5 days is a very short time. So I ask all of you to appreciate what you have, cherish the small moments of your day even when nothing exciting may be happening. Tell the people you love, that you love them more often- don't save it for holidays and special occasions.

If you are having petty arguments and not talking to a friend or family member, call them and put an end to it.

There will always be a void in our lives. But we can be comforted by our wonderful memories of Suzy and her beautiful smile.

And she will be looking down and smiling at us with our dad and all the other angels in heaven.