AUBURN — Susan Ellen Taylor Sweet, 66, of Auburn, passed peacefully at the Hospice House, on Sunday, Nov. 21, after a brave battle with pancreatic cancer, surrounded by the love of her family.

She was born Nov. 10, 1944, in Lewiston, the daughter of Clayton and Bertha Taylor, and sister to Joan Chandler and Robert Taylor. Susan graduated from Edward Little High School in 1963 and went on to attend Otterbein College in Ohio; however, she left before the completion of her studies due to the unexpected death of her father. She returned to Auburn and was employed as an EEG/EKG technician at Maine Medical Center, Portland, and then at Central Maine General in Lewiston.

Susan met her soul mate, Gordon, on a blind date in 1965; they were married in 1967, and enjoyed 43 wonderful years together. They lived in Auburn and raised four children, Kellie, Kimberlie, Kirsten and Karrie. She was a devoted mother who spent endless hours attending and supporting her children’s activities. Susan was employed by the Sun Journal for more than a decade, initially as a typist, then as the Community News Editor. She also worked for several years at the Lewiston campus of the University of Maine at Augusta.

Among a vast variety of hobbies and interests, her favorite was sewing and quilting. For years she created coordinating special occasion outfits for her daughters, including Easter dresses, Halloween costumes, and prom gowns.

She was a member of the “Church Mice” quilters, a group that made countless personal as well as charitable items, such as chemo-caps and quilts for Habitat for Humanity homes. Susan organized and delighted in weekend retreats by the ocean for her quilter friends from Maine and Vermont.

She was also a member of the Woman’s Literary Union and enjoyed participating in their fairs and other events. Susan, Gordon and their girls attended the Park Avenue United Methodist Church for many years, during which she was an active member of the Abigail Circle. She spent many hours making crafts and working at the church’s annual holiday fair. She formed lifelong friendships through the church and enjoyed volleyball, summer get-togethers and more recently dinner parties with this group. Sue was also a wordsmith, and eagerly took on the challenge of a game of Scrabble, Boggle, or the newspaper Jumble.

Susan had many wonderful childhood memories of visiting her grandparents at their cottage on the water in Bay Point. She had a lifelong love of the ocean, spending many hours picking up sea glass and sea shells, and taking drives along the coast to view lighthouses.

She spent summers at her camp in Oxford on Hogan “Hogie Pogie” Pond, playing volleyball, kayaking, and playing catch. In recent years, she enjoyed watching her long-awaited grandchildren swim and play there, and she will be dearly missed but lovingly remembered by all eight of them, Alina, Ander, and Anya Ciesielski of Kalamzoo, Mich., Taylor, Connor, and Camden Lewis of Bedford, Mass., and Ava and Sadie Sweet-Richardson of Natick, Mass. She will also be missed by her sons-in-law, Matt Ciesielski, Jamie Lewis, Jesse Richardson and Charlie Mollo.

You are invited to share your thoughts, condolences and fond memories with the Sweet family by visiting their guest book at www.thefortingroupauburn.com.