Susan Lesh Chadick's Obituary
Susan Elizabeth Lesh Chadick died April 16, 2026, at age 83. She was born March 12, 1943, at Fayetteville City Hospital to Ruth E. and Vincent O. Lesh. Susan’s maternal grandfather, E.F. Ellis, M.D., signed her birth certificate. After her hospital stay, Susan was taken home to 423 East Spring Street.
Through seventh grade, Susan attended public schools in Fayetteville, including grades first through sixth at Washington Elementary, near the site where her mother as a child had attended the erstwhile Old North School. From eighth grade through her high school graduation in 1961, Susan was a boarding student at Saint Mary’s Hall in San Antonio, Texas.
Susan matriculated to the University of Arkansas and, following her mother (1920) and maternal grandmother, Cener Holcomb Ellis (1892), graduated there with a bachelor of arts degree in 1965. While at the U of A, Susan was initiated into and, ultimately, president of the Psi Chapter of Chi Omega women’s fraternity, which was co-founded by her maternal great-aunt, Jobelle Holcombe.
In early summer 1964, a childhood friend introduced her to a fraternity brother, Earl (Buddy) Chadick, Jr., and, in Susan’s words, they “fell in love and married,” in June 1965 at Fayetteville’s Central United Methodist Church. Their marriage, and love, continued these past 60 years.
After their wedding, Susan and Buddy moved to Jefferson County in Southeast Arkansas. Susan’s first employment was with a still-segregated school district, where she was the only white teacher at all-Black Pastoria Elementary School. After that year, she moved to Altheimer High School, where she taught for three years. Susan then restarted as a student, commuting for two years from Pine Bluff to Little Rock to attend the newly-opened graduate school of social work. After earning her master’s, Susan worked in Pine Bluff, primarily for the Mental Health Center, while Buddy farmed with his father and adult brother, and together were recognized in 1967 as the Farm Family of the Year.
During these first 16 years of marriage, Susan and Buddy had their two children, Elizabeth Holcombe (Holly), in 1966, and Vincent, in 1969. Their fledgling family first lived in the farming community outside Pine Bluff, supported by Susan’s beloved in-laws and extended family, including Buddy’s parents, Earl and Florene and their youngest son, Doug; his brother Bitsy and wife Wilda, and their young sons, Walt and Jess; and, a bevy of other Chadicks. Susan also relied heavily on her children’s nursemaid, Lucille Sledge. Susan was enthusiastic about life on the farm and then in Pine Bluff, and also the everlasting relationships begun there, especially through Lakeside United Methodist Church. Jefferson County became her home.
And Fayetteville always was. So when Buddy wanted to return to school, Susan, unflinchingly, supported him, and they moved with their 11- and 15-year-old children to the succor of Northwest Arkansas. While Buddy began as a full-time student at the U of A, Susan was hired as director of social services at Washington Regional Medical Center, embarking on what became a 27-year career with the hospital, where she was twice honored employee of the year, and later its dialysis unit. WRMC was prominent in her professional and her personal life: she worked there decades; her parents, both physicians, held privileges there, and her mother was chief of staff there; she birthed a child there and was, in turn, there when each of her four grandchildren was born at WRMC.
Susan also returned to the church of her childhood, Central U.M.C., where, when she was a youngster, her father would take her to Sunday School, walk to see patients at her parents’ medical office at 221 North College Avenue, and return to attend the church service with her. Back living in Fayetteville, Susan rekindled many cherished relationships and developed new ones, through her work, church, children and local family, and through several organizations with which she volunteered. She saw her children attend, as she and her mother had, Fayetteville public schools, and graduate; her husband commence a law practice, ultimately officing in the building on College Avenue which had been her parents’ medical office; and, most proudly, her daughter enroll at the U of A, initiate into Chi Omega, graduate with a bachelor’s, becoming a lineal fourth generation alumna, and marry in Fayetteville, as had Susan, her mother, and her mother’s mother.
Susan was a consummate caregiver and one-person support network for many colleagues, friends, and family, including especially for both of her parents and her treasured aunt, Elizabeth Dupree Ellis, and niece, Nicole Lesh Sylvester. Susan was utterly devoted to her grandchildren: first Holly and son-in-law Marty Bryan’s daughters, Victoria (Tori) Ellis and Jenny Alexandra, who like Susan attended Washington Elementary; and then Vincent and daughter-in-law Terri Dill Chadick’s sons, Jacob Lesh and Jefferson Elijah (Eli).
Susan served locally on the boards of the American Red Cross, Planned Parenthood, Central EMS, and the Washington County Historical Society, and she was instrumental in starting the WRMC Cancer Support Home and the Northwest Arkansas Organ Transplant Group, which she served for several years. She was a 50-year member, and passionate about the mission, of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, and was a charter member of Chapter BU/Arkansas, and she was also a member of Daughters of the American Colonists.Her professional accolades were many; perhaps her most rewarding recognition was being honored, like her mother and maternal grandfather, as Distinguished Citizen of the Year by the Historical Society. Susan took the greatest pride in the accomplishments of, and honors received by, her family, including her four grandparents; her mother and her father, on whom she doted; her parents-in-law; her aunts; her brothers- and sisters-in-law; her nephews and niece; her grand-nephews and nieces; and, especially, her husband, and their children and families.
Susan was preceded in death by her parents, and by her brother, Vincent Edward Lesh. She is survived by her husband, Buddy; daughter Holly and son-in-law Marty; son Vincent and daughter-in-law Terri; and grandchildren, Tori, Jenny (and husband, Graham Dempsey), Lesh, and Eli.
Susan’s children are grateful for the attention provided her in recent years by her niece, Nicole, and grand-niece Jordan Sylvester.
In 1995, Susan and Buddy moved to 423 East Spring Street, embarking on a labor of love in revitalizing her early childhood home and the surrounding property. She reconnected with the area she explored, and was fascinated by, as a young girl, and Susan committed to teaching her grandchildren about the neighborhood, Fayetteville, Washington County, and Arkansas, their family’s histories, and their community’s culture. On prompting by daughter Holly years ago, Susan remarked she would most like to be remembered as a loving mom and grandmom.
She will be.
Susan and Buddy continued their lives together at 423 East Spring Street, where as a newborn she spent her first night, until Susan’s last night on this Earth.
A memorial service will be held Friday, April 24, 2026, at 11 a.m., in the chapel at Central U.M.C., at the corner of Highland and West Dickson in Fayetteville. In lieu of flowers, Susan’s husband and children request memorials be made to Planned Parenthood Great Plains, online or at 4401 West 109th Street, Suite 200, Overland Park, Kansas 66211, or the U of A Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences, online or at Development Team, Old Main 521, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701.
What’s your fondest memory of Susan?
What’s a lesson you learned from Susan?
Share a story where Susan's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Susan you’ll never forget.
How did Susan make you smile?