Sue Mapp Harper

Sue Mapp Harper April 14th, 2024. Sue Mapp Harper passed away peacefully with family and friends around her. Sue was born on June 28, 1934 in Machipongo, Virginia on the Eastern Shore Peninsula to George Richard Mapp III and Sue West Holland. Her father ran the Eastern Shore Canning Company, which processed and canned the tomatoes and other produce grown there. Her sister Eve was born three years later. The family attended Christ Episcopal Church in Eastville, which is part of Hungars Parish started in the 17th century.

As a child Sue wanted a horse. Her father relented on the condition that she learn to ride properly, so she went off to Camp Allegheny to learn English Riding. Later, as a camp counselor, she met her future husband, Bill Harper, who was a swimming instructor at the camp.

Sue and Bill were married in 1953 while Bill was attending Medical School in Richmond, Virginia. Upon his graduation in 1956, they bought a brand new ’56 Chevy and towed their belongings in a U-Haul trailer out west to Phoenix. Arizona was an easy choice among Alaska and Alabama because they both disliked cold weather. On the drive toward Phoenix, the Chevy’s fuel pump died at the bottom of Salt River Canyon, and they had to sleep in the car at a nearby gas station until a replacement pump arrived from Phoenix the next day. It was August, and warm and they loved it. They soon met a group of other young couples, who all eventually became known as “The Old Phoenix Gang.”

After their first child was born in 1958, they moved to Memphis to complete Bill’s residency, where a second child was born in 1959. They moved back to Phoenix in 1962, where their third and fourth children were born.

In the 60’s the family shared an airplane with friends, and Sue’s husband wanted her to learn enough about flying to help on long trips. She subsequently earned her private pilot license in 1965 while pregnant with her fourth child. Sue ended up loving flying so much that she got her commercial license and multiengine rating, all while raising four children. This led to a part-time job flying with friends as a contract employee for the United States Geological Survey. Always involved in the Episcopal Church, Sue also became the Arizona wing of the Episcopal Air Force, flying Bishop Heistand all over Arizona.

As a member of the Ninety-Nines organization of women pilots, Sue at one point served as a liaison between General Aviation and the Air Force. During preparation for a flight in a T-38 jet at Williams AFB, she endured training in a hypobaric (high altitude) chamber and on the use of ejection seats (yes, the boom bucket). That flight resulted in her becoming one of the few (if any) housewives at that time to have logged jet time in a T-38.

Bill and Sue loved entertaining, playing bridge, and travelled widely. Sue and Bill welcomed people from all around the world into their home. Sue loved writing letters and regularly kept in touch with all the wonderful friends they made.

 Sue’s husband died in 2001. She is survived by her four children, Will Harper, Caroline Harper, Kendall Tokarski, and George Harper, nine grandchildren and a great grandchild.

A celebration of Sue’s life will be held on Saturday, June 15, 2024, 10 a.m. Please join us at Christ Church Anglican, 5811 N 20th St, Phoenix AZ. A reception will follow in the Parish Hall to share precious memories and celebrate Sue’s life with friends and family.