Sue Kizer

Sue Kizer, 71, of Portsmouth, Ohio, after suffering through a series of illnesses for seven years, passed on to her Christian reward Tuesday ,July 30, 2019. Sue was a fervent believer who in her final days could be heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer many times a day to herself. She had been a member of Holy Redeemer and Second Presbyterian churches. Wherever Sue went, she was known for her beauty. She bedazzled John, her love of 56 years and husband of 51 years when he first saw her when she was but 13. He fell in love at first sight. She was his dream girl and remained so for 58 years. John wasn’t alone in that feeling. When Sue was 19 a consortium of campus businesses around Ohio State sponsored a contest to find OSU’s most beautiful coed. Sue won that contest. Sue’s spiritual beauty matched her physical beauty. Sue spent her life and her multitudinous talents helping everyone around her to be happy. She wrote scores of letters comforting the bereaved. She founded the local chapter of Compassionate Friends after the daughter of one of her friends died tragically. She spent endless hours counseling her friends through the trials of their lives. She founded the Neighborhood Watch in Portsmouth in the mid 1970s. Sue’s boundless enthusiasm made everyone want to be around her, for being around her was just about as much fun as one could have. In later life, Sue loved playing tennis and loved all her tennis friends. Though she had never hit a tennis ball prior to age 56 and had bad knees, she had been a champion badminton player in her youth, and that enabled her to pick up tennis quickly. She and John won many mixed double titles, including the first Steven Hunter championship. Sue never lost a match playing as a woman in USTA league play. More importantly, she just radiated fun to everyone around her when she played. She organized tennis mixers and tennis leagues at the Portsmouth Tennis Academy and at the local courts, so that others could share in her enjoyment. She captained the local women’s team to the Tri-State league championships and on to the state championship, always emphasizing the fun to be had. She helped others to be joyous in play. She was known for throwing spontaneous parties at which she might fix a gourmet feast at three in the morning. She made it a habit to invite those who had no family to those parties and to her legendary Thanksgiving feasts. Sue made life fun and a pleasure for all around her. To be around her was to be happy. Her generosity was legendary. She loved her friends and family and showered them with rare and exotic gifts. Sue was an intellectual and a brilliant writer who wrote numerous poems, short stories and articles for various literary and popular magazines. One article in Animal Cavalcade was “How to Raise a Happy Hamster.” Sue wanted even hamsters to be happy. She was an avid birder and animal lover. She also performed daily comedy routines on various national radio programs throughout the 1990s. Her comedy entertained people all around the country, winning high praise from listeners. With all her beauty and all her talents, there was never anything self-aggrandizing about Sue. She was self-effacing, always deferring to others, ensuring that those around her enjoyed the fun and the plaudits. Sue was so multifaceted in her talents and at the same time so humble regarding them, that even her best friends often did not know the range of all her accomplishments, of which only a few can be mentioned in this short notice. Sue was a graduate of Notre Dame High School and Ohio University with honors, while taking as many as 24 hours a term and at the same time being a wonderful wife to John. She was truly the perfect wife for her husband John. He considers himself the luckiest man alive to have been able to love and be loved by her for 56 years. Sue was born December 15, 1947 in Portsmouth, Ohio to Anthony and Hilda Schmidt, who preceded her in death. She is survived by her only sister Janet Halloran of Flemingsburg, Kentucky. She is also survived by her husband of 51 years John B. Kizer, Sr., one son John B. Kizer, Jr. (Meghan) of Dublin, Ohio, and two grandchildren, Erika and Nicholas Kizer. Her special friends and relatives, whom she loved so much, are too numerous to name, but they know who they are. Funeral services will be held 11:00 A.M. Monday, August 5, 2019, at the F.C. Daehler Mortuary in Portsmouth, with Reverend John Gowdy officiating, with interment at Greenlawn Cemetery. Friends may call Sunday from 5-8 P.M. and one hour prior to the service.