Susy Dirr, daughter of Michael and Bonnie Dirr passed away

Copied from Athens
Banner-Herald on 1/27/2008

Chapel Hill, N.C. - Born February
4, 1977, Suzanne Ruth Dirr, beloved
daughter of Michael and Bonnie
Dirr, loving sister to Matthew Dirr
and Katherine Dirr, passed away
Thursday, January 24, 2008. She
leaves behind her grandparents,
Richard and Phyllis Gertz; her
aunts and uncles, Mary and Tom
Kostenbauder, Ben and Linda Urso,
Linda Wadleigh, Rick and Pat Gertz;
her cousins, Marcy Kostenbauder,
Molly Yanni, Ben Urso, Karen
Michelsen, Tony Urso, Vikki Benson,
Christie Miller and Richard Gertz;
and hundreds of friends who
gathered around her in the 31 years
she lived.
Cystic Fibrosis did not define Susy
as a person. She embraced life with
joy and love and made the people
and the world around her a better
place. She charged ahead, unafraid,
defying the odds that genetics
would keep her down. Valedictorian,
Summa Cum Laude, UGA graduate,
traveler extraordinaire--to France,
England, Scotland and Wales and one
glorious summer studying in Italy.
When her disease took its toll, she
underwent a double lung transplant
at the University of North Carolina
Hospital in Chapel Hill. When a few
years later, rejection sent her
through another transplant, she
faced it with the same positive
attitude. Nothing was easy but she
felt life was worth the risk.
Chapel Hill became her home and
ours as she bounded through three
and a half years of wonderful
breathing, more traveling and
embracing her job with the UNC
Athletic Department. She tutored
student athletes, mostly football
players who learned to love her.
When she couldn't climb the steps
in front of the classroom building,
they carried her.
There is not a person she knew,
from her Georgia childhood friends,
her family, her Chapel Hill friends
and transplant community, who
didn't love and admire her
brilliance, creativity, biting wit,
compassion and glowing soul.
When a star shines so bright, the
light left behind never dies.
Services will be Tuesday, January
29, 2008 at 2:00 PM at Lord &
Stephens Chapel, WEST.
In lieu of flowers, please make a
contribution to 'The Sweet Melissa
Fund' for transplant families at
UNC Hospital c/o Becky Cicale, Lung
Transplant Coordinator, 111 Hogan
Ridge Court, Chapel Hill, NC 27516.
Lord and Stephens Funeral Home,
WEST, 1211 Jimmy Daniel Road,
Bogart, Ga., is in charge of
arrangements.
Published in the Athens
Banner-Herald on 1/27/2008.

Prayers are sent,
Otis

We would add ours too. Gene and Ivy

Wow! Otis.

What a life she lived.
More live than a lot of ordinary people.
Extra-ordinary person.

I'm sure that now she is limit-less and able to do anything now.

thanks for sharing that info.

Was she a DG'r ?

You might have heard of her father Michael Dirr.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Dirr

Otis

Otis, Thank you for posting the article.

Michael A. Dirr. Author of "Manual of Woody Landscape Plants", and other related works. The Bible to anyone who propagates landscape plants. 1187 detailed pages on the indentification, ornamantal characteristics, culture, and propagation of woody landscape plants. Now in it's fifth edition. This was the first book that went into my library when I became interested in plants.

Gene and Ivy, Ivy's Country Pride Nursery

This message was edited Jan 30, 2008 7:42 PM

Gene, Sweet Things are inbound. I mailed today.

Otis