By Kathy Leslie
We lost a much-loved and greatly valued Friend member when Sue Soy passed away on June 11. She left behind a lasting legacy that will extend far beyond the time she was able to serve on the FTOL board.
Sue was born in Fairfield, Iowa, and graduated from the University of Iowa. In addition to her bachelor’s degree, she earned an MS in information science and an MBA.
She began her library career in Thousand Oaks with the Ventura County Library System and later went on to direct the Cooperative Library System, serving the libraries of Los Angeles County.
In 1991 Sue moved with her husband Jack to Austin, where she studied archival enterprises at the University of Texas, Austin, and then put those skills to use over a 25-year period with the City of Austin, serving as the assistant library director, city records manager and city archivist. Following her retirement, she and Jack returned to Thousand Oaks in 2017, where she was recruited to the Friends by board members Dick and Caryl Piernot,
The Piernots met Sue while on a Friends’ cultural bus tour. Caryl said, “I knew I had happened onto someone with many skills, and a background of being a librarian, an archivist and fundraiser, plus being politically savvy as related to fundraising. She radiated high energy and showed a real interest in the Friends.”
Sue brought energy and big ideas to the organization, Caryl said. She set up a thoughtful and detailed fundraising calendar, a new venture for the Friends. Sue also laid a foundation for grant writing and for legacy planning to create additional sources of revenue that the Friends could direct to the library.
Sue believed deeply in the Friends and their mission, and it showed in her enthusiastic diligence. She was constantly attending conferences, workshops and meetings to ferret out more information that might benefit the Friends. Sue came prepared to every board meeting with new ideas, contacts and programs, such as working with a CLU intern to set up spreadsheets of donors.
Using her archival skills, she took on the task of organizing FTOL historical materials, stored in decades’ worth of boxes filled with photo albums, yellowing newspaper clippings and other information. The result is a beautifully preserved and organized, searchable historical record, for which we will always be grateful.
There was no task too big or too small for Sue to embrace. She was dedicated; she accepted thankless tasks just as happily and willingly as she took on the more fun and visible ones. Sue was generous: when she proposed that the Friends enter the annual Charity Karaoke contest, she not only arranged it, but purchased tickets for an entire table for other Friends to attend. Sue was also quite creative; Friends members loved getting her handmade thank-you cards.
Though Sue’s contributions to the Friends were numerous and constant, she somehow found the time for many other interests. An avid collector of glass paperweights, Sue was an active member in both local and national branches of the Paperweight Collectors Association. She also enjoyed being part of the Conejo Gem and Mineral Club and was named Rockhound of the Year in 2023.
Jane Robin, a past officer with the Gem and Mineral Club, said, “As a longtime, highly esteemed member, Sue worked tirelessly and effectively as program chair for several years, securing speakers for our monthly meeting. She headed the hospitality group at our annual show, and served on many other committees and activities over the years. She had a can-do attitude that was an inspiration to everyone. We will long remember her friendship, her smile, her courageous attitude and her contributions to our club.”
Sue was also a member of the Antiques Study Group which met at the Stagecoach Inn and was a charter member and an officer in the Conejo Valley Genealogical Society.
Sue was a cherished friend to many; her longtime friend Maria Esteva said, “Sue was a scholar, an advocate for libraries and archives, and an activist for early internet access in the public library system. Her work was shaped by her innate tenacity, amazing organizational skills and strong community sensitivity which bled into the kinds of programs she pursued.
“One such program pursued funding for social workers at the library to assist the increasing homeless population in Austin. Sue was a present and generous friend who fully enjoyed nature, art and cultural history. Her legendary annual 4th of July party embodied her open heart. Sue had the rare capacity to turn hope and desires, happiness and grief (hers and others) into gratitude, acceptance and positive actions.”
Though Sue was diagnosed with cancer in 2020, she nonetheless kept up her busy schedule. In addition to volunteering for every Friends’ event, she and her husband Jack seemed to manage to be at every concert, lecture and happening in town. She was one of the most engaged people many of us had ever known, and was a shining example of how to live life to the fullest.
Sue is survived by her husband, Jack T. Jordan, and by her sister, Joyce Trott, as well as a collection of treasured friends across the country. As Sue requested, no service was planned, and her body was donated for scientific use to the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. The Friends have allocated funds in Sue’s memory to purchase circulating materials for the library on subjects near to Sue’s heart.
Sue’s contribution to the Friends was outsized compared to the relatively short time she was able to serve on the board. She jumped in with both hands and feet, and all of her generous heart. And we are the richer for it. Those wishing to remember Sue with a contribution to the memorial library collection can donate to the Friends of the Thousand Oaks Library, 1401 E. Janss Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91362.