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Susan Hunsberger Stevenson, 84, teacher

Susan Hunsberger Stevenson, 84, of Buckingham, a mother, teacher and field hockey official, died Saturday, Nov. 28, of renal failure at home.

Susan Hunsberger Stevenson
Susan Hunsberger StevensonRead more

Susan Hunsberger Stevenson, 84, of Buckingham, a mother, teacher and field hockey official, died Saturday, Nov. 28, of renal failure at home.

Born in Norristown, she grew up on Tooth Acres, the family's farm in Collegeville. Her father, Russell Baily Hunsberger, was a well-known area dentist.

After his death, her mother, Jeannette Buckland Hunsberger, donated the farm property as a borough park, now called Hunsberger Woods.

Ms. Stevenson graduated from Collegeville-Trappe High School in 1948. She enjoyed planning reunions and staying in touch with classmates throughout her life.

In 1952, she graduated from Gettysburg College and later became the first woman to be inducted into the college's Hall of Athletic Honor. She played field hockey and basketball.

At 5-foot-4, she was "a tough, feisty guard," said her daughter Jennifer Morgan Keller.

Ms. Stevenson served on Gettysburg's Orange and Blue Athletic Advisory Council, pledged Delta Gamma sorority, and served as a key alumna for the college.

After the death of Grace C. Kenney, her field hockey coach and mentor, Ms. Stevenson helped establish the Grace C. Kenney Endowed Scholarship fund.

She later established the Susan Hunsberger Stevenson '52 Scholarship Fund that is awarded to promising Gettysburg students, especially those active in extracurricular activities.

After college, she taught health and physical education and coached field hockey and basketball at Mount Pleasant High School in Wilmington; Swedesboro High School (now Kingsway Regional in Swedesboro); and at the Solebury School in New Hope.

She and first husband David Hersh Keller Jr. moved to Buckingham in 1958. Once she started a family, she switched from teaching to officiating field hockey.

"She loved officiating and was well-respected by area coaches," her family said.

A highlight of her 15-year officiating career was being named the first woman to serve on the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association District One Board of Directors, her family said.

Ms. Stevenson volunteered on the Buckingham Township Park and Recreation Board, answered a hotline for a shelter for domestic violence victims in Doylestown, and was an overseer at Wrightstown Friends Meeting.

She was a member of the Valley Forge Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and carried on her parents' legacy membership in the Mingo Express Horse Co., an archaic equine horse protection group.

After divorcing in 1983, she married Bruce D. Stevenson in 2000. He died in 2010.

Besides her daughter, she is survived by another daughter, Melissa Baily Keller; a son, David Hersh "Dee" Keller III; four grandchildren; and two brothers.

A memorial service is to be at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 18, at Wrightstown Friends Meeting, 535 Durham Rd., Newtown. Burial is private.

Donations may be made to A Woman's Place, Box 299, Doylestown, Pa., 18901, or through www.awomansplace.org.

bcook@phillynews.com

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