Suzanne M. Brickey

Suzanne M. (Stankey) Brickey, 71, passed away April 24, 2022 at the memory unit within St. Clare Commons in Perrysburg.

Sue was a respected editor-journalist with a career at The Blade that spanned more than 40 years. Yet it was her extended family and close friends who were the centerpiece of her life. Sue was an involved and devoted wife, daughter, sister, aunt, great aunt and supportive friend to many.

She was born Suzanne Mae Stankey to Dr. Robert and Elizabeth (Rogers) Stankey on April 4, 1951 at Blodgett Memorial Hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The eldest of nine children, five boys and four girls, Sue had a strong sense of responsibility early in life. When the family moved to Toledo, Sue attended Gesu school and church as did the rest of her siblings. She set a high bar academically and was a voracious reader who devoured Nancy Drew books, among others. Little did Sue know then that she would one day work with Millie Benson, author of Nancy Drew books, at The Blade.

Sue graduated from Notre Dame Academy in Toledo where she continued to excel in the classroom. Like many others of the era, she was a huge Beatles fan who played their albums incessantly. When not wearing a Notre Dame uniform, Sue loved fashion and became a skilled seamstress, often making clothes for herself. She earned spending money by working along with her sister Lynne as waitresses at the local Howard Johnson’s restaurant. They drove to work in an early 1970s gold Plymouth Duster.

Then Sue was off to college at Ohio University (OU). After a brief bout with freshman homesickness, she fit right in, making many close friends, excelling with her studies, and maintaining her hip fashion sense. After graduation from OU, Sue was enrolled at the University of Toledo College of Law for a brief time, but her passion was not law. It was journalism.

Sue made her way to the University of Missouri (Columbia School of Journalism) where she learned the craft that would become her long-standing profession. After graduation from Missouri with a degree in journalism Sue returned to her family home on Kenwood Blvd. in Toledo while she sought employment in the news field.

She was snapped up by the Blade in 1977 and began a more than 40-year career at the paper rising from a temporary news assistant to a full -time reporter, a copy editor, and a Features Editor.

It was at The Blade where she met her husband Homer Brickey, a journalist on the business desk at the time. Sue, the quiet type, and Homer, outgoing, made an inseparable team and they were a great intellectual match. The two were married August 1, 1992.

Sue and Homer were part of a close group of friends and colleagues who enjoyed tossing back a few after work at downtown Toledo spots like the Angry Sea, Mug Shots and The Press Club of Toledo. They were members of a Burger Club that visited different restaurants, sampling the burgers and rating them. And they ventured into rowing and sailing lessons, among other activities.

While they did not have children together, Sue had a positive relationship with Homer's adult children. The couple was a constant presence at family events and holidays and Sue was known for making the Stankey family horseradish beets at Christmas every year.

Homer retired from The Blade in 2008, then Sue retired in 2010. Unfortunately, Homer passed away in 2011 before the two had much time to enjoy their retirement together.  After Homer’s death, Sue returned to work part-time for The Blade in 2013 as a Columnist, writing about restaurants and theater, topics she truly adored. Then she fully retired in 2019. During this time, she adopted her dog Elizabeth, a Mountain Cur breed, whom she spoiled with love.

Sue was an active volunteer, assisting Read for Literacy, Mobile Meals, and Christ the King Church. She was a devout Catholic and prayed for everyone.

Even in her final days, Sue talked frequently about family, and loved seeing her siblings and extended family and friends. She will be remembered fondly by everyone she knew for her kindness, intelligence, quiet humor and love.

Sue is preceded in death by her parents Dr. Robert and Elizabeth Stankey, husband Homer Brickey, brother David Stankey, and brother-in-law Paul Sochacki.

She is survived by siblings Jim (Leslie), Mary Sochacki, Lynne Nowel (Tom), Kurt (Debbie), Anne Roman (Mike), Dan (Pat) and Phil (Pam).  Sue’s siblings gave her 14 nieces and nephews and eight great nieces and nephews.

She is also survived by Chris, Jon and Marc Brickey and their families.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Sue’s memory to Christ the King Church or the Northwest Ohio chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.

All services will be held Saturday, April 30, 2022 at Christ the King Church, 4100 Harvest Lane, Toledo. Visitation at the church will begin at 9:30 a.m. and be followed by a mass at 10:30 a.m. After mass, family and friends will gather briefly at Resurrection Cemetery, 5725 Hill Avenue, Toledo, for final goodbyes. Walker Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.