Suzanne Rie Day

Day—Suzanne Rie Day, 86, on January 16, 2024, following a brief battle with cancer, peacefully at home, surrounded by her loving family at Stapeley retirement community in Philadelphia, Pa. Suzanne was born on January 4, 1938, to Paul and Grace Rie in New York City. She enjoyed a rural childhood on a dairy farm in the Amish country of Chester County, Pa.

Suzanne was an alumna of Westtown School, Connecticut College, the Pennsylvania State University, Boston University, and the University of Michigan, where she received a doctorate in public health in 1981. Suzanne taught sociology, gerontology, and public health courses at Temple University in Philadelphia and Stockton College in Galloway, N.J.

Suzanne’s marriage to her high school sweetheart, Peter Day, gave her two children, Doren and Bernie, and later daughter-in-law, Nonie, and three grandchildren. When Peter left the family, Suzanne began her work supporting healthy aging in Delaware.

After completing her PhD, Suzanne returned to the Philadelphia area and met Hal Taylor at a Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) gathering. Hal and Suzanne were married in 1984. This second marriage brought four stepchildren into her life, Laura, Amy, Peter, and Jeremy, and in time six grandchildren.

Hal and Suzanne were active in Atlantic City Area Meeting in Galloway, N.J. In 1992, they moved to the Taylor River Side Farm, a homestead beside the Delaware River in Cinnaminson, N.J., and transferred their memberships to Westfield Meeting. While living on the farm, Suzanne became more aware of environmental issues and served on the Mayor’s Environmental Advisory Board. After Hal’s death in December 2001, Suzanne continued to help the Taylor family run the farm.

Suzanne’s activities are a testimony to a life dedicated to being a loving Friendly presence who knew how to bring joy, enthusiasm, and social activism to daily life. She was a leader in secular organizations as well as in her Quaker faith community. She was a founding member of Newark (Del.) Meeting, was active in Atlantic City Area Meeting, served as clerk of Westfield Meeting, and was a member of most committees at some point. She led the founding of the Cecil County, Md. chapter of the League of Women Voters; served on the boards of Stapeley retirement home in Germantown and Greenleaf senior care community in Moorestown, N.J.; served on the boards of both Westtown and Westfield Friends Schools; helped coordinate PYM’s Antiracism Collaborative as a follow up to a life lived participating in civil rights protests (Suzanne attended the March on Washington in 1963); served on PYM’s War Tax Concerns Support Committee and refused to pay war taxes; was recording clerk for PYM and clerked its Long Range Planning Group; and for many years was an active member of FCNL’s General Committee.

Several years after Hal’s passing, in 2005 Suzanne married longtime friend and love Nick Kakaroukas. While keeping a home base in the Philadelphia area, Suzanne and Nick traveled the globe, admiring art and architecture, sometimes taking special trips with grandchildren. Suzanne and Nick settled at Stapeley in 2020, where Suzanne became known as the “Plant Lady” because of her care of Stapely’s beautiful collection of houseplants.

Suzanne was predeceased by her former husbands, Peter Day and Hal Taylor; and a son, Bernard Day.

She is survived by her husband, Nick Kakaroukas; one daughter, Doren Day; one daughter-in-law, Anona Day; four stepchildren, Laura Kinnel (Geoffrey), Amy Taylor Brooks (Michael), Peter Taylor (Lily), and Jeremy Taylor; one goddaughter, Julia McMullan Cleaver; nine grandchildren; two brothers, Dan Riea (Cathy) and Tom Rie; and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.