Susan Arnold Mitchell

Susan Marie Arnold Mitchell was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on January 20, 1935. Her father, Raymond Arnold, worked for Arnold Machinery, the company founded by Ray’s father in 1929. Isabelle (Izzy) Wilson Arnold, Sue’s mother, was a homemaker, caring for Sue and eventually Sue’s two younger brothers, Clark and John.

Education was important to the Arnold family. Both Ray and Izzy had graduated from Knox College in Illinois, a small liberal arts college founded by Ray’s ancestors. Sue’s independent streak showed itself early when she chose not to attend her parents’ alma mater but to strike out for Colorado College in Colorado Springs. She graduated from CC in 1957 with a BA, majoring in English.

After a trip to Europe with a college friend, she took another adventurous leap and moved to Palo Alto, California. There she taught elementary school, and, more momentously, met George Mitchell, who was attending Stanford Business School.

Despite a rocky first date, during which Sue had to help push George’s Austin Healy sports car when it broke down, the two hit it off and were married June 24, 1960. The couple welcomed their first child, Mark, in 1962, and their second, Kathy, in 1964.

As was common for the era, Sue stopped working when she had her first child. She kept busy with volunteer work, however, becoming involved with the Environmental Volunteers, an early conservation education group, the American Association of University Women (AAUW), and the East Palo Alto Day School, a nursery school for low income, primarily African American children. Growing up Protestant in heavily Mormon Salt Lake City gave Sue an appreciation for and experience of being a minority and fueled her life-long passion for civil rights and social justice.

In 1976 George needed a change in his work situation, and so the family moved to Golden, Colorado, where George took the position of Director of the Alumni Association at his alma mater, the Colorado School of Mines. The move was challenging for Sue, leaving a close-knit group of friends and the temperate coastal climate of California she had grown to love. Despite growing up in the intermountain West, after 18 years in the Bay Area it was difficult to adjust to the dryness of Colorado and to remember that February is not spring here.

The political climate was also quite different in Colorado at the time. Sue was one of a small handful of democrats who met to caucus in Golden in the late 1970s.

A few years after the move, when the kids were able to ‘fend for themselves’ as George would say, Sue decided to go back to paid employment. She gravitated again to education, this time to higher education. She took a position at the School of Mines in their placement office, helping students find jobs after graduation.

After some years in that position she moved to the admissions office, recruiting students from Colorado and across the country to attend Mines. She remained active in volunteer organizations as well, including leadership roles at Faith Lutheran, where she and George attended church, and with the Ethnic College Counseling Center, helping students of color succeed in college.

Sue ended her professional career at the Iliff School of Theology, where she served as Director of Admissions. The role involved much more responsibility than her positions at Mines, but with both Mark and Kathy out of the house, she had more time to devote to it. Iliff’s emphasis on diversity and social justice and its liberal theology suited Sue to a “T”.

During Sue’s years at Iliff she also pursued a certificate in mediation, which introduced her to The Conflict Center, where she did an internship. Sue continued to volunteer with The Conflict Center for many years, serving on the board and coordinating the Reading for Peace program.

Sue retired from Iliff in 1998. George followed her into retirement a few years later and afterwards the two enjoyed many trips in the US and abroad, including to New Zealand, the Galapagos, the Panama Canal, Australia, the Rocky Mountaineer train and the Queen Charlotte Islands in Canada, and a Mississippi River cruise.

When Sue wasn’t traveling, she enjoyed spending time in her beloved garden, attending Friends of Chamber Music concerts with Kathy, working on her many volunteer activities and going out with friends and family.

In her early 70s, two momentous shifts happened in Sue’s life. First, she and George joined First Unitarian Society of Denver, where Kathy was a member. Sue and George began attending services at FUSD in the mid-2000s to hear Kathy sing in the choir. Soon they were attending regularly and joined in 2008. Sue once said she was surprised it took her till she was 70 to realize she was a Unitarian!

Secondly, when Sue was 72 she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Kathy remembers her mom feeling depressed about the diagnosis for a few months, but before long Sue decided to treat it like any other setback—to not let it get in her way of doing the things she wanted to do. And she didn’t! Sue continued to travel and keep up with her friends and volunteer activities. She began to use a cane and then a walker as needed, but often only grudgingly—she was an independent woman!

After George died in September 2022, Sue moved to an assisted living facility, and then to memory care at MorningStar Arvada, where in spite of her lack of mobility she continued to make friends and stay engaged. She passed peacefully at MorningStar on April 29, 2025.

Sue is survived by her children Mark (Cindy Souders) and Kathy (Dave Garton), brothers Clark Arnold (Kay Berger Arnold) and John Arnold (Miriam), sister- and brother-in-law Peg and Bob Wenrick, and nieces, nephews, grand-dogs and cats, and step grandchildren. Donations can be made in Sue’s name to The Conflict Center, https://conflictcenter.org/.

Services will be held at the First Unitarian Society of Denver, 1400 Lafayette St., Denver, CO 80218, at 2PM on August 9, 2025. All are welcome.