Remembering 'Suzie'

Theatre gave her a voice - and what a voice, indeed.

But Sue Barber's lifelong friend, Tim Murphy, heard her voice failing when last he saw her on Thursday afternoon.

Barber, a well-loved Sault teacher, director, singer, musician and animal mom to many critters in her lifetime, passed away on Saturday afternoon after losing her battle with cancer. 

Suzie Barber, as Murphy called her, was always a performer.

"Suzie was always on, always smiling even when she didn't feel like smiling, always there for everyone," he said. "That positioned her to be such a great mentor."

Barber is remembered by many as a person who encouraged them to be themselves and to find a way to really shine with all their quirks and character differences. 

He described her as someone who was there for everyone and who had a lot of trouble saying no to anything.

Not even to a pet turkey (named Soup) that got too big for Murphy and his partner, Keith, to keep at their home. The turkey joined a pig on the Barber-Falls farm and the two animals became best friends. 

"It was never dull at the farm," he said. 

Murphy lived with Barber and her husband Aubrey Falls for about seven years off and on, until Murphy purchased his own home in the Sault a few years ago. 

He said he admired her strength and positivity since the two were children growing up a few camps apart at Pointe Louise but, when he came back to the Sault and moved in with them he found a new Suzie. A Suzie involved in theatre.

While Murphy had been interested and involved in theatre from a very young age, Barber's first love was a horse and it took her away from camp more than Murphy was happy with.

"I was so jealous of that damn horse," he said. 

Barber decided she was going to be a paramedic and an equestrian so she moved away to Saskatchewan but her dreams were cut short when she suffered a back injury and had to change careers. That's when she decided to become a teacher.

"That's where she was meant to be," Murphy said.

It's where she could make the greatest difference to the most people.

"She brought out the best in everyone," he said. "In all my years of knowing her, I never heard of or met a single person who didn't like her. She didn't make a single enemy."

Barber was in the midst of directing her first full production, "Fiddler on the Roof" when Murphy returned to the Sault in 1996 and he remembers admiring her work and learning from her - about directing, lighting, stage management - all aspects of theatre.

It inspired him to return to the local theatre scene and the two worked together on several projects.

Barber began her time in theatre with Richard Howard and Pull Chain Theatre, then continued to work with Joe Lauzon at the Theatre St. Mary's College after which she formed her own company called Shot in the Dark Productions.

Shot in the Dark started out with murder mysteries and evolved into a fundraising production company.

With Barber at the helm it grew into a fully-fledged theatre company producing feature shows. 

While teaching at White Pines, Barber also founded White Pines on Stage and produced several successful feature shows with the company. 

Barber was also a very accomplished musician with full mastery of a variety of musical instruments including piano, flute, cello, violin and guitar.

And she had a beautiful, strong, clear soprano voice.

When Murphy visited her on Thursday, Barber could barely speak. The two talked about theatre and she remained very much in the present, he said.

She was asking me where I was going to rehearse "A Christmas Carol" and she said she planned to be well enough to play Scrabble the next time I visited, Murphy said.

On Saturday afternoon she succumbed to the cancer that had weakened her beautiful voice and fell silent at last.