Sue Ann Flanagan Silk, 87, of Hendricks, West Virginia, passed into eternal life at daybreak on December 20, 2022, surrounded by her family. She waited for the sun to rise.
Born Sue Ann Charlotte in Hendricks on October 26, 1935, she was the second child of Paul and Leecy Rennix Flanagan. She went to first and second grades at Hamrick School in Hambleton and then moved to Baltimore, Maryland through eighth grade. She returned to West Virginia and graduated from Parsons High School at age 16 with the class of 1952.
Sue married Max McDonald a year later and moved back to Baltimore. The couple had two daughters, Cynthia Susan and Melody Lee. In 1960, after Max’s unexpected passing, she and the girls moved back to Parsons and lived with her mother for three years. She worked at Dorman Mills and then at Monongahela Power Company until she married Terry Silk on June 23, 1963. Terry and Sue settled in Alexandria, Virginia and had four more children: Christy Anne, Timothy Paul, Daniel Edward, and David Michael.
A stay-at-home mom until 1976, she began a 29-year career as an administrator at the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS). Sue was the keeper of the key to the liquor cabinet at DISCUS because she was the only one in the office who didn’t drink! She was the liaison for DISCUS to the World Association of Alcohol Beverage Industries and traveled all over the US coordinating golf tournaments and other events. She was also a member of the American Business Women’s Association for many years. She retired from DISCUS in 2005 and moved back home to Hendricks.
Sue was a devoted member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) for 58 years, serving as Treasurer and Registrar of the Blackwater chapter until her recent illness. She was awarded Outstanding Chapter Registrar at the West Virginia DAR State Conference in 2022. Sue was also an active member of the Parsons High School alumni association and looked forward to the annual Memorial Day reunion. She was an avid bowler for more than 50 years. Her bowling family at times included many of her children and extended family members.
Sue frequently volunteered her talents. In addition to her work with DAR, she often served as secretary, newsletter editor, and many other roles in the many organizations she supported. Sue loved dancing and ice skating. She was even known to put on a pair of roller blades in her later years and skate around the neighborhood with her kids and grandkids. If you ever attended a family event with Sue, to find her you only had to find the baby in the room. She loved babies and held them whenever she could. Sue Ann was a mother figure who loved her nieces and nephews and cousins and all of the children born into the extended family. She loved keeping up with them and visiting and chatting online. She loved having big family dinners that included the extended family — sometimes when it was standing room only!
Sue Ann was a devout Catholic. She is survived by her beloved husband, in their 60th year of marriage, Terence Edward Silk and children Cindee Gray (Mike), Melody Doran (John), Christy Silk Simmons, Tim (Christine), Dan (Rachel), and David (Deborah); grandchildren Erin Smyre (Matt) and Kevin Gray (Briana), Justin Anderson (Vanessa), Shannon, Shaun, Lindsey, Leecy, Tara, and Thomas Silk, Charlotte and Nolin Silk, and Michael, John, and Leah Silk; great-grandchildren Ophelia and Asher Smyre, Evelyn, Max, and Kevin (KJ) Gray, Avah, Miah, and Eleanor (Ellie) Anderson; brother Dennis (Kay), neighbor and niece Debbie Gower, and many more nieces, nephews and cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents, Paul and Leecy Rennix Flanagan, first husband Maxie Lee McDonald, siblings Paula, James, and twins Harper and Nora, and granddaughter Fiona Ruth Silk.
Public visitation took place on Tuesday, December 27, from 4-6 p.m. at Lohr & Barb Funeral Home, 312 Main St., Parsons, WV, concluding with a Rosary. The Funeral Mass will take place on Wednesday, December 28, at 11 a.m., at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church, 221 Water St, Parsons, WV 26287, with the Reverend Father Martin Smay as the Presider, followed by interment at Parsons City Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations in Sue’s name can be made to Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church at 221 Water St, Parsons, WV 26287 or Blackwater Chapter NSDAR, Cathy Hebb, Regent, 604 Central Ave, Parsons, WV 26287. The Lohr & Barb Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements for Sue Ann Flanagan Silk. Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.lohrbarbfuneralhome.com
