- Date Of Birth: February 2, 1933
- Date Of Death: May 5, 2017
- State: Colorado
Sue Ann Brownlee James Stuart, 84, former co-owner of Grand Lake Lodge and longtime resident of Denver and Grand Lake, CO, passed away peacefully on May 5, 2017, with family members at her side. “Sweet Sue” is fondly remembered and much loved by her large extended family and her numerous communities of friends. She was an exceedingly bright light in this world and was renowned for her warmth, her friendly and outgoing nature, her extreme generosity, and her sincere kindness towards all she met. The youngest of four children born to John T. and Reed M. Brownlee of Omaha, NE, Sue spent nearly every summer of her childhood at Camp Holiday in Minnesota, where she developed her keen sense of adventure and athletic ability while honing her sailing skills, first as a camper and later as a camp counselor. Sue attended Central High in Omaha and in 1954 graduated with a teaching degree from the University of Nebraska (“Go Big Red!”), where she was a member of Delta Gamma Sorority and the Mortar Board National Honor Society. While attending Nebraska, she met her first love, Ted L. James, Jr., and they married on May 15, 1954. Sue and Ted promptly moved to Colorado and spent their first summer of marriage living and working at Trail Ridge Store, elevation 11, 796 feet above sea level in Rocky Mountain National Park. A move to Denver followed, where Sue taught first grade for two years and Ted started Teddy’s Hamburgers in University Hills. Together they raised four children (Kathy, Ted III, Reed, and Kerri) in Denver while also moving back and forth seasonally to Grand Lake and Estes Park, where Ted and his father, Ted Sr. (Gramp) ran several successful businesses – Estes Park Chalet, Hidden Valley Ski Area, Trail Ridge Store, and the Grand Lake Lodge. Each summer in Grand Lake, Sue sailed an M20 sailboat with husband Ted and eldest daughter Kathy as her crew. She became one of the first female skippers on the lake and won the Hoffstot trophy, earning her the nickname “Hoffstot Sue.” In 1976, Ted was diagnosed with sinus cancer and the subsequent treatments caused him to go blind within a few years. Sue began working in the family business shortly thereafter and under the tutelage of her beloved mother-in-law, Perry James (Gram), Sue became an expert in Native American Arts and Crafts. Called “Saint Sue” by many, she was also Ted’s compassionate caregiver until he died on October 16, 1994. Sue felt extremely blessed that Ted lived long enough to experience all of his children graduating from college, getting married, and adding three grandchildren to the growing James family tree. During their marriage, Sue enjoyed many activities with Ted including alpine and cross-country skiing, tennis, hiking, attending National Park Concessionaire Conferences in over twenty National Parks and the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC, and travelling to various exotic destinations with the Ports-of-Call Club, all while being active in a couples Koinonia Bible study group, bridge club, and a dinner/dancing club.
