Susan Hill McGavic

Sue grew up an only child in Omaha, Nebraska, the daughter of teachers. Her mother taught her to knit, cook and sew, but Sue especially loved going camping with her dad and exploring the great outdoors. She attended Smith College, majoring in Chemistry and earned her Master of Education from Radcliffe College. She taught Earth Science, Introduction to Physical Science, and Chemistry for many years to middle and high school students, served as President of the Louisville Smith Club, and was a former President and an active member of PEO Chapter B. She was a founding member of GRRAND (Golden Retriever Rescue and Adoption of Needy Dogs) where she shared her passion for her four-footed friends through breeder referral and education, matching perfect dogs with perfect owners. She was also an active member of the Greater Louisville Golden Retriever Club for many years. She enjoyed attending dog shows, training at Shamrock Acres Training Center for obedience and showing in AKC obedience competitions.

She loved her decades of teaching (even when her students set fires on the lab tables in the back of the room), zooming around on her riding lawn mower--sometimes right over the retaining wall in the back yard, finding creative ways to use extra-large zucchini from her garden, college counseling, knitting Icelandic sweaters, playing tennis, Halloween on the cul-de-sac with her neighbors, a splash or more of Maker’s Mark on Derby Day with some Derby pie, good music, long dog walks down by the Ohio River, sharing her home grown cherry tomatoes at Camp Greenbrier summer family camp, a bowl of peppermint ice cream after dinner, and most of all, she loved her Golden Retrievers.

She is survived by her daughters, Louise McGavic Box, MD (John Weikel), Martha M. Edwards, MD (Nathaniel C. Edwards, MD), grandchildren Emily Edwards Greer (Charlie Greer), Christopher Edwards (Ailey Brumley), and Catherine Jane Edwards, many dear friends in the Golden Retriever world, and her two beloved dogs, Liam and Josie.

We are so very grateful for her wonderful caregivers Debbie Ernst (Home Instead Louisville, KY), Amy Steele (Another Chapter Care Service specializing in Alzheimer’s and dementia care, Greenville, SC) and Natausha Shell’s whole team (Above and Beyond Caregivers, Greenville SC).

There will be a memorial gathering at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Anchorage, KY on March 1, 2025 from 6-8 pm.

You are invited to honor Sue with memorial donations to:

Golden Retriever cancer research https://www.goldenretrieverfoundation.org/the-zeke-cancer-fund

GRRAND https://grrand.org/donate/

“The world would be a nicer place if everyone had the ability to love as unconditionally as a dog.” M.K. Clinton