A Fond Farewell

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A Fond Farewell

image of Susan Reeves with IBBME Staff - June 2012

Susan Reeves (with yellow flower), surrounded by IBBME's staff. Courtesy E. Vollick.

Susan Reeves, IBBME Administrative Assistant, Goes Out A Winner

June 25, 2012

There are a few things you know about Susan Reeves when you first meet her: she listens to a killer 60s and 70s radio station at her desk. She hates composing formal letters. Thirty-eight years after her wedding she vividly remembers the beautiful yellow ribbon on her floppy hat and the matching bright yellow flowers of her bouquet. She is happy, kind, generous to all of her co-workers. She exudes an air of expertise and professionalism in her work. She is widely respected and admired by IBBME's diverse faculty.

And then there are the things you learn: Susan has been working at UofT's Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering since 2002, during a time when the Institute was expanding at a rapid pace. How she arrived here is a story in and of itself.

Having worked at Scarborough General Hospital for seventeen years and DeVry Institute for Technology for eight, Susan found herself downsized and out of a job at the age of 53 — an age when people think more about retirement than starting over. Anxious and slightly depressed, Susan found herself applying for jobs she either didn't want or was distinctly over-qualified for.

That's when fate stepped in and introduced Susan to Yvonne MacNeil. MacNeil, then the Operational Manager of IBBME, was looking for a mature, experienced assistant to the Director. MacNeil interviewed Susan at the most unassuming of places--the Scarborough Town Centre food court--and Susan, with her unusual combination of medical and educational experience, was hired. She has been a lynchpin of IBBME's team ever since, and has seen the Institute through a massive decade of growth.

"I've worked with three Managers and two Directors," Susan recalls of her ten years working as the Administrative Assistant to the Director. "I worked for Michael Sefton first, although Yvonne had to convince him that he needed an assistant."

Through her ten years at the office, though, Susan has proven herself an invaluable asset.

"Regardless of what those [personnel] changes were Susan was a steadying presence," Professor Sefton describes. "She clearly came to define the job."

But Susan Reeves is much more than the sum of these things: professional assistant, friend, colleague, mother, wife.

"Susan is a survivor," says current IBBME Director, Professor Paul Santerre .

It was the afternoon of Wednesday, November 1 ^st, 2006. Susan wasn't feeling well and went home early on a day that was supposed to kick off an extended weekend for her. That was the day Susan's life changed. Admitted to Toronto General Hospital, Susan was told she faced the challenge of her life: Stage four Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Bravely battling through nine months of chemotherapy and several setbacks, Susan returned to her post two years later, miraculously in remission.

"The team is now just so wonderful I almost wish I could stay longer," Susan says fondly on the eve of her retirement.

Susan's years of dedicated service and remarkable victory over a life-defining illness is a poignant reminder of why the research being conducted at IBBME--an institute of learning that brings together the best of medicine and engineering--and its partner hospitals is not just important, but vital.

As for Susan: she leaves IBBME on a high note. Closing in on her 5 years remission anniversary, she's ready to tackle her latest life challenge head-on: how to relax and enjoy her retirement years. So far her plans include kicking back poolside and relaxing.

"I'm going to have to fight my husband for the lounge chaise," she says with a chuckle. For the record, our bet is on Susan.

Watch Susan and other U of T retirees in this short video.

University of Toronto Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering

A Fond Farewell

Susan Reeves, IBBME Administrative Assistant, Goes Out A Winner