Susan "Sue" Herdal

Early Saturday morning, November 20, 2021 Sue passed away in her home due to a lengthy illness of cancer.  She had wonderful care and many friends and family members were able to spend special time vising her these last few weeks.  She lit up every time someone came to see her.

Sue was born on October 8, 1949 at Highland General Hospital to Arthur and Marian Herdal in Auburn, California and raised in Auburn until she went to college at Chico State.   She graduated from Chico State in 1971 where she earned her bachelor’s degree with a major in Physical Education and a minor in Psychology and Health Education.  In 1972 she earned her master’s degree/standard teaching credential.   In 1972 she moved to Napa to start her life -career as an educator.  Her first job was at Fairfield High School (1972-1974), then she joined the NVUSD (1975-2009) for the remainder of her teaching career working at various schools - Napa High, Redwood and Silverado Middle schools and at the Junior College.  She taught Mathematics, Physical Education, Language Arts, History, Health, Standard First Aid and coached various sports teams.  She was a favorite teacher among her students because she sincerely cared about them.  She took the time to get to know them individually and provided support, guidance, by listening, mentoring, and caring about their success.  Many former students will say Sue was my “favorite teacher because she inspired me and made me feel important”. 

She retired in 2009 and didn’t slow down a bit because now she had time to do what she loved – being outdoors in her garden, on the tennis court, golf course, or in the ocean scuba diving, on a stream fly fishing, hiking a trail or skiing down a beautiful snowy mountain top.   She was an athlete, an amazing teammate and competitor living life to the fullest. She found pleasure in gardening, traveling, decorating, and volunteering.  If you didn’t know Sue from her career or athletic activities, then perhaps you knew her from her time working at The Mustard Seed.  She had such a knack for merchandising, and had fun helping her customers find the perfect outfit so they could feel great about themselves.  She was always greeting everyone with a smile and making each person feeling special.

Her greatest accomplishment was being a mother to Chelsey, her beautiful daughter.  She was radiant when talking about Chelsy and of her three grandchildren: Dominic, Emme and Dean.  Her family was the center of her world and any time she was able to spend with them was the most precious to her.  The next circle of people of importance were her friends who she considered family as well.  She found value and cherished the memories of her many friends, their laughter and fun times and the many loving and shared experiences.  These last few weeks the stories were shared of tennis matches, trips, teaching experiences and family times.  There were great conversations over a glass of Chardonnay and the common thread was Sue made everyone comfortable, feeling safe and loved.

Sue was the most gracious, generous caring person one could even know. It was a blessing if you knew her and a delight if you were able to spend quality time with her.  She had the brightest eyes that twinkled when she smiled which just lit up the room wherever she was and the sweetest laugh which just made you feel good.  She was so special!

She is survived by her beautiful daughter Chelsy Shane Newton (Jared Newton), her grandchildren Dominic Dandini, Emme and Dean Newton, her sister Barbie Ann Herdal (Chris Parkinson), her brother, Donald Herdal, sister Sharon (Donald Goodman) and many nieces and nephews and cousins, along with a circle of great friends.  

There is a hole on our hearts today and great sadness that we won’t hear her engaging laugh, see her beautiful smile, and receive her wonderful touch of holding her hand again.  Thank goodness we know she is our angel and will always be close to our hearts. 

An easy way to feel connected with her is to consider planting a beautiful succulent plant that makes you think of her when you look upon it.   For those who know her well, perhaps wear a vest as she did and you know what we mean  [��ï�ïï]

Lastly, per Sue’s request there will not be a memorial service.

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