Sue Richards

Dearest Sue
What an amazing legacy you have left, across so many countries. Whilst we may no longer be able to speak to you or hug you, you live on through your lovely family, the many children you have cared for, and the colleagues you have supported.
Thank you for being you! Your kindness, intelligent mentoring and endless smiles will stay with me forever. You were always so thoughtful and kind Sue. The world needs more people like you,but I'm sure that your impact on your students means your values and kindness lives on.
Rest gently now and know how much you are loved by so many people.
Amanda

I knew Sue for about 40 years both. I admired her as a colleague and treasured her as a friend. Memories… Berlin school exchanges in 1988 and 89, art galleries, wonderful food and many wonderful stays in her beloved Almuñecar with visits to Granada and the White Villages, local evenings sitting in the square chewing the cud over tapas. Sometimes we would meet in Madrid or Malaga. She was full of joie de vivre, generous, and kind.
So sad you have left this world too soon, Sue. May you rest in peace.
Much love, Helga and Amy Greenbank

Sue was not just Marilyn and Steve’s mum to us, we were lucky to call her our friend. The time we stayed with her in her home in Almunecar was great fun and with long lasting memories, walks on the beach and restaurants with her and her friends and visiting many lovely places together. Hannah had the wonderful experience of going to Sue ‘s school to join a class of her age for a day , and made many friends. To this day, Hannah still has the handwritten letters and cards from that class which Sue hand delivered when she was home for holiday. Sue was generous, kind and fun. We'll remember her with warm and fond memories. Rest in peace.

Queridisima Sue, solo tengo palabras de inmenso cariño y agradecimiento por los años que dedicaste a consolidar AIS.en Almuñecar.
Gracias a tu trabajo tus alumnos hoy en dia, estan dispersos por el mundo trabajando y demostrando la magnifica labor que desarrollaste a nivel professional.sin embargo siento que tu cercania
ycariño nos han marcados a todos, alumnos,docentes ,Consejo de administracion y amigos.Descansa en paz

I interacted with Sue mainly through the petanca group, either while playing or enjoying apres game tapas.

I enjoyed partnering her on the pitches. She played a mean game and was great fun to be with. I often recount the game when Sue and I needed just 1 more point to win and the opposition were nowhere in sight; but they beat us!

Sue gave me a lot of help and advice on Spanish tax matters for which I'm grateful.

RIP Sue. It was an honour to meet and to know you.

Dear Sue.
I was truly sad when I heard of your death.
Under my more then 5 years in Almunecar you became a very dear friend.
We shared many laughs and gatherings.
Many many card-evenings and a lot of really nice meals.
You will always live in my heart.
Today I am crying but I am smiling through my tears knowing that I was blessed that I have met you and that I could call you my friend.
Love you to the moon and back💞💞💞💞

Sue and I enjoyed many a month in town hall eating seiner schnitzel where I enjoyed hearing her speak German or a pre concert glass of wine and another after before saying farewell as she headed up the hill to her home.
Her wonderful smile and ever positive attitude is inspirational and will live on.
I will miss her

I only knew Sue recently, as an integral member of our community here in Almunecar. I was impressed by her towering intellect and breadth of knowledge and experience, which she nevertheless veiled with an ordinariness, a common touch, which meant she was at ease with everyone, and doing the most mundane things. Her fortitude and courage facing her recent illness also impressed me deeply.
Thank you to the family for the photos here and the opportunity to celebrate her wonderful life.

I met Sue when she interviewed me in July 1992 at Thomas Tallis and she offered me the job in the MFL dpt. and then she was my line manager for 10 great years. She was a brilliant Head of Department and I will never forget the team parties we had at her house in Penge and the tasty cooking!!! I will also never forget the week we spent together with 30 students at our partner school in Germany. I will always treasure the great chats that we had every morning when she picked me up from Bell Green in Sydenham London to travel together to school. She was a great listener and she was such a great mentor!!! Finally, I always admired her when she decided to pack up and to restart her life in Almuñecar, when she just could have thought of retiring. What an intrepid person she was!!! Ivor and I went to visit her in Spain and, as usual, she was such a welcoming host and made us feel at home in her new school. It was great to see her soooo happy, relaxed and at home in Spain.

Sue has been our friend since we arrived in Almuñecar in 2016. We have shared many conversations, meals, glasses of wine and art experiences together. Even when communication was at its most difficult for her, her indomitable spirit, humour and courage shone through. We will always remember her formidable intellect, sense of humour and enthusiasm for trying something new! She will be greatly missed.

I’m am so truely blessed to have had Sue as my Aunt, I was thrilled when she came to Australia with Dad for Katie’s wedding, as we got to sit and catch up and have a drink together.
I will miss you terribly Aunty Sue.
RIP

we spent the day saying goodbye to SUE here in the UK,where we now live,by remembering all the lovely times we spent together enjoying each others company and doing the the things we liked to do. She was great company and we shared many interests.
I worked with her in AIS where she was a respected by students, teachers and parents.
We travelled around ANDALUCIA with her for birthday treats. We had many lovely meals at the beach restaurants with her and friends and many small dinners with her and other close friends at hers and our house in Molineta where the wine flowed and we so enjoyed each others company.
We felt she was a part of our family and our daughters were welcomed in ALMUNECAR when they visited with their children. Our grandson max aged 20 still has a lighthouse she gave him as a birthday gift. It is very precious.
We are so sorry that the last thing we planned to do in dartington in Devon with her and ED was to have a meal while they were at the festival. She and I both went down with Covid so it didnt happen.
We feel so lucky to have known her and spent wonderful times together.
Rest in peace dear SUE.
RUTH AND JONATHAN LUCAS

Sue enriched our lives in so many ways and so many places.We first met as colleagues when our sons were seven. Our family visit to Sierra Leone none of us will forget or our Christmases in Mull and visits to Almunecar. So many memories.Sue was indomitable, a fabulous organiser. She was gentle and kind and bravebrave and we will miss her.

One of me earliest memories of Sue is when she spent the summer at the Goethe Institut in Munich and I went with the family as nanny to Steve who must have been about 3 years old. I remember being rather in awe of this sister-in-law who was doing such enterprising and adventurous things! And she certainly went on to have a rich and varied life. She always had a lot of time for children and young people and Auntie Sue will be fondly remembered by her nieces and nephews.

My enduring memories of Aunty Sue are her lovely smile and her beautiful resonant voice. She had a great sense of humour and I always loved hearing the fascinating stories about her latest adventures around the world (and as a child, loved receiving the exotic gifts she'd bring us!!)
Sue enriched the lives of many people and has gone too soon, but she's certainly left a wonderful legacy.

Mi susan. Le doy gracias a la vida por haberte conocido. Gracias a mi prima que me llevó allí. Eras una mujer muy muy fuerte, buena y risueña. He estado solo 7meses contigo pero te tenía un cariño grandisimo. Siempre desde el primer minuto e intentado hacerlo lo mejor posible que tu siempre estuvieras bien dándote el cariño que te merecías. Siempre dándome las gracias por todo lo q hacia me buscaba la vida para poder levantarte acostarte, con mi marido para que estuvieras tú agusto etc. Que raro se me hace el no verte. No quería nada malo para ti hasta q yo no te veía bien no me iba. Porque como siempre te decía la principal eres tú y que estés bien. Me dolía mucho el verte a veces mal. Hemos llorado juntas muchas veces por cosas q tú me decías o cosas q yo te decía. Porque no quería q nada ni nadie te hiciera pasar un mal momento. Todavía tengo en la cabeza lo que me dijo el martes. Q yo no podía ir en 3 días y mi compañera fue esos días y ella se pensaba q me iba. Y llorando me dijo no quiero q te vayas. Y como te dije aquel día el sábado estoy contigo todo el día y domingo también no me voy yo voy a estar aquí hasta el último día. Y llegué el sábado y el verte malita en el cambio q pegaste.. Pero hay estuve hasta el domingo contigo.
Que raro se hace el no regañarte con las cremas porque me las pedías cada 5 minutos y te decía tanta crema tampoco es buena q no te va hacer efecto. Ojalá te hubiera conocido antes... Nunca te olvidaré mi susan. Hemoss sido tanto mi compañera Alba y yo más que un trabajo era como si fuera de nuestra familia. Y eres parte ahora de nuestro corazón. Un beso al cielo bonita. Manolo y yo no te olvidaremos nunca. Te queremos. ❤️

Sue became an important person in our formative years as a young family when she came into our life in 1979 when our eldest child had been born. Our relationship was forged when we were invited on holiday with Sue’s family to the Isle of Mull. From that time on our relationship was cemented. We found that Sue was an unfailingly kind thoughtful and generous person and we have many fond memories of times spent together, Christmases on the Isle of Mull and numerous family events in Penge and Hackney where Sue produced culinary feasts and Steve shared his childhood toys much to the delight of our three young children. Over the years our friendship with Sue, her family and with Ed remained constant and when she moved to Spain we delighted in trying to navigate the steep streets to reach Sue’s house perched just below the Castillo in Almunecar. Sue, forever determined, nothing was ever too much as she forged the rich and varied life she created for herself in Spain. Sue championed young people, not just in her professional life, but also in her personal life. We are privileged to have been among her friends and we shall forever remember her with fondest love.

Mi querida Susan ... como poder empezar a asimilar que de un momento a otro ya no te servire mas , no te peinare, no te pintare las uñas , nisiquiera nos pondremos a reir de las anecdotas que me contabas de tu maravillosa vuelta al mundo , esa nobleza y empatia con la que nos solias tratar ami y amis hijas.
Mas que un trabajo para mi era un hogar... un lugar que de puertas para dentro me daba paz, y que tu sintieras esa paz conmigo es lo que me hace poder descansar despues de tu partida... esa seguridad q tenias que siempre querias que estuviera a tu lado para todo, esos malosentendidos que nos an podido chocar y despues hemos llorado como maagdalenas porque nuestro cariño estaba por encima de todo , no negar que empezemos de 0 , me costo entenderte, saber de ti , tus gustos y tu manera de sobrellevar las cosas, sin duda ninguna lo que mas me gustaba de ti era tu valor como mujer, una persona q nunca se a qerido rendir y que siempre as qerido luchar y sobrellevarte tu sola, por desgracia la vida fue un poco injusta y no podiste seguir tu camino solidario como tu ami me decias que t gustaba, tus viajes, tus alumnos , tu familia, almuñecar...Siempre te preguntaba al verte triste con recuerdos familiares, que porque aqui y no donde esta tus seres queridos, y tu respuesta fue ,
"Almuñecar me toco el corazon y desde entonces no me quise ir" y la verdad esque Almuñecar es bonito, y tu recuerdo siempre en el , y mil de momentos que podria contar durante todo el dia sin pena ninguna, por que de ti e aprendido a ser valiente, que la vida ahi q disfrutarla y siempre soñar y volar bonito.
Aun no creo q este aciendo este recordatorio para ti, aun no m creo que mi mandona no m riña mas , te has ido de un momento a otro, nunca m perdonare no haberme dado tiempo a despedirme d ti, a que me miraras fijammte y me dijeras con la mirada lo que sentias y lo que sospechabas ya de ace dias... por que con tan solo una mirada tuya sabia lo q m espresabas, dolor, alegria, enfado... si esque no podria parar de hablar de ti y de estos años atu lado, me diste oportunidad d entrar a tu vida y confiar en mi, y solo tu y yo sabiamos el cariño y pasion q nos teniamos, no era relacion de jefa a trabjadora , era relacion mucho mas POTENCIAL , todo te lo contaba ati , para que m aconsejaras o lloraras conmigo y tu empatia nunca faltaba me as ayudado en todo lo que podias y mas y me fuera gustado ayudarte yo mucho mas .
Te recordaremos yo y mis niñas por siempre Susan😔, espero que ahi estes donde estes siempre cuides de los tuyos y siempre me protegas y me alumbres por el camino correcto, por el que siempre as querido que vaya, el cielo brilla mas desde que estas tu, y el dia llora y echa mucho agua por tu despedida, que... para mi.. no es una despedida, es un hasta luego, hasta que nos crucemos en otra vida, porque estoy segura que nos volveremos a encontrar, porque me niego a quedarme sin despedirme de ti, sin volver a recordarte lo mucho que eras tu para mi...solo mis seres queridos saben lo que tu eras para mi, incluso para mi familia ya eras una luz brillante con esa conexion hacia mi.
Cada dia a tu lado era mas especial y bonito, no siempre as dado con la suerte de encontrarte a gente buena, lo que si se que yo y mi compañera Mari carmen siempre emos dado por ti cielo y tierra y protegido como un cristal, aun recuerdo como nos llorabas de pena porque no te dieran el cariño y respeto que una mujer como tu se merecia, dejar los malos momentos y quedareme con los buenos, pero como olvidar tus malos momentos? tus dias grises si eran negros para mi .... Susan TE QUISE, TE QUIERO Y TE QEDRE.... siempre en mi 😭❤️‍🩹

Sue and I were married for a couple of decades. Latterly we did not see eye to eye, But the storm clouds have long since disappeared, and I have only positive memories of the life we shared. Here is one.
Sue and I were driving along the old and very bumpy motor road from Ibadan to Lagos when I sharply braked the car to avoid a naked body rolling in the road. The story we extracted from the emaciated figure was that he had fallen from a palm tree and injured himself, with no one around, and became increasingly paralyzed by Tetanus. He was almost speechless by this time, and unable to call for help. Finally, he started rolling in the road, to force a vehicle to stop, or to be killed. We wondered what to do. It would be very difficult (and painful) to get the man into the back of our small Renault 4 car. I flagged a following vehicle down. It contained an American publisher I had met in my office in the university. He had a large station wagon, so I asked him to assist. He declined, saying that 'these people have ways of dealing with cases like this' (I think he assumed the man was crazy). After advising me not to get involved he drove off and I was at a loss what to do. Sue took charge. We had to get the man to hospital. She was absolutely determined and utterly fearless.
I asked the injured man if he was willing for us to try to get him in the car and he told us 'yes'. After a truly nightmare struggle we managed to get him on board, and we drove the few miles to the hospital, where we met an Egyptian doctor. He told me 'he won't live, but I will make sure he does not die in agony or alone'. Three days later we returned to learn the inevitable - the man had died, though not without thanking us for the help we had offered. I often wonder what I would have done if I had been on my own. There was no doubt or hesitation in Sue's mind about what we should do. It illustrates, if Steve and Elliot need to be reminded, of the sort of woman their mother and grandmother was. We mourn her passing and pray for her to find a good road.

Gracias por enseñarnos lo fuerte que puede ser una mujer, eras la mujer más fuerte, independiente y con un don especial que he conocido. La calle se queda un poco más vacía sin tu presencia te echaremos mucho de menos vecina Susan descansa en paz. Tú vecina María.

I was really lucky to work with Sue for a good few years at AIS. I remember perfectly well the day she walked into the office for her interview. I learnt so much from her and for that I am so thankful. She was always so supportive and caring. Her son and I were born on the same day and year she used to say we were "twins" she never forgot my birthday. She was a unique person . Siento mucho vuestra pérdida.