Suzanne Theresa Leo Bouton, of Savannah, Georgia and formerly of Darien, passed peacefully from this earth on Feb. 17, 2025. She was 92.
Suzanne Bouton, 92, who passed away Feb. 17, and her husband, William Bouton. A service celebrating the memory of Sue and Bill Bouton will be held in May.
She was predeceased by her loving husband of 67 years, William C. Bouton, who died in 2021.
A kind and gentle soul, Sue maintained a positive outlook throughout her long life. Growing up in Bronxville, New York and Rowayton, the daughter of Charles Rhinelander Leo and Bertha Schuldice Leo, Sue graduated from Bronxville High School in 1950 and Wheaton College in 1954.
The youngest of five and the only girl in the family, Sue majored in psychology at Wheaton, having weathered her brothers’ good-natured teasing and practical jokes, sharpening the quiet wit that showed her steely resolve to be seen and heard despite her generally reserved nature.
Sue was an avid reader throughout her life. An active sailor from childhood through her fifties, Sue particularly enjoying racing Snipes during her youthful summers at Norwalk Yacht Club and later, crewing aboard the family’s Ensign, #153, “Bull & Bear,” out of Noroton Yacht Club. Summers on Fishers Island, New York with her children and dear friends were a highlight of family life. In their retirement years, she and Bill traveled extensively throughout the world.
Married to Bill in 1954, whom she had met in Bronxville, she quickly set about the work of raising a family and making a home in Darien, where they lived from 1955 to 1994.
Valuing hard work throughout her life, Sue was an active volunteer with the Junior League of Stamford/Norwalk, through parent-teacher associations and in school libraries during her children’s school years, and especially, at St. John Roman Catholic Church in Darien, where she served on the Parish Council and as a lay Eucharistic minister.
As her youngest entered junior high school, Sue returned to school, gaining a certificate in library science from Norwalk Community College, a credential that prepared Sue for her most meaningful work, which was cataloguing books and other materials at Darien Library as a member of its Technical Services Department. As a volunteer in retirement, Sue brought these experiences to the school library at St. James The Less in Savannah and to the Village Library on Skidaway Island.
Sue leaves behind her adoring children: William, Jr. and Diane Bouton of Cumming, Geoegia; Susan and Curt Sabate of Yardley, Pennsylvania; and John and Carrie Bouton of New London, New Hampshire; her grandchildren: Joanna Sabate, Will [Alexa] Sabate, and Ryan [Kelly] Sabate; Emma Bouton [Daniel Traver] and Callie Bouton; and Melisa Bouton Potts. She was also blessed with multiple great-grandchildren in her long life.
A service celebrating the memory of Sue and Bill Bouton will be held at a later date, with interment to follow in the Schuldice family plot at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Danbury. Gifts in her memory may be directed to Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts.
— an obituary from Gamble Funeral Home, where online condolences may be left