FLAGSTAFF - Susan Jay Thomas departed this great circle of life on July 3, 2023. She passed in the early hours of the morning with her daughter close by after an almost two-year trial with transverse myelitis. Born and raised through high school in New Jersey, she had the privilege of dancing in the ocean, sailing on the Navasink river, and racing through farm land, strawberry fields and apple farms. Life was good. It got even better when she came to Flagstaff to go to NAU in 1972. She completed her first degree in ceramics and sculpture in 1976, selling (or gifting to family and friends) everything she ever made. After a bit of experimenting, she realized that making a living in art might be a bit too much of an uphill battle, so she began exploring, broadening her horizons. After a decade of hiking mountains and canyons, mountain biking, running rivers and studying building codes on her own, she landed a job as the first female building inspector for Coconino County. That opened her eyes to her true passion which was construction. She enrolled back at NAU for her Construction Management degree and was one of the first female graduates of the NAU Construction Management program. Always striving for more, and being a pioneer of sorts, after a year with a valley Construction Management firm, she came back to Flagstaff and became the first female project manager for NAU's Capital Assets division. As time marched on, with marriage and the birth of her daughter, then divorce and a stint as a traveling project manager completing projects up on the Navajo reservation for a firm engaged by the Arizona School Facilities Board, she again sought employment closer to home and found a position as the first female project manager in the City of Flagstaff's Capital Improvements Division. One of her favorite projects working for the city was the bridge over Cedar Avenue. When it was time for another career change, she, with help from her friend and mentor Dave, ended a long and wonderful construction career as the first female Construction Management professor at NAU.

She is survived by her amazing daughter Jenna, son-in-law Tim, two wonderful grandkids Elsie and Shane, her best friend Diana, five brothers, a sister, and a multitude of nieces and nephews. One of her favorite passages by WB Yeats, and how she would like to be remembered is:

"Giving all I have,

Yet shall all be mine.

I shall drink the world

Like a vintage wine."