Susy Dirr, daughter of Michael and Bonnie Dirr passed away

Copied from Athens
Banner-Herald on 1/27/2008

Chapel Hill, N.C. - Born February
4, 1977, Suzanne Ruth Dirr, beloved
daughter of Michael and Bonnie
Dirr, loving sister to Matthew Dirr
and Katherine Dirr, passed away
Thursday, January 24, 2008. She
leaves behind her grandparents,
Richard and Phyllis Gertz; her
aunts and uncles, Mary and Tom
Kostenbauder, Ben and Linda Urso,
Linda Wadleigh, Rick and Pat Gertz;
her cousins, Marcy Kostenbauder,
Molly Yanni, Ben Urso, Karen
Michelsen, Tony Urso, Vikki Benson,
Christie Miller and Richard Gertz;
and hundreds of friends who
gathered around her in the 31 years
she lived.
Cystic Fibrosis did not define Susy
as a person. She embraced life with
joy and love and made the people
and the world around her a better
place. She charged ahead, unafraid,
defying the odds that genetics
would keep her down. Valedictorian,
Summa Cum Laude, UGA graduate,
traveler extraordinaire--to France,
England, Scotland and Wales and one
glorious summer studying in Italy.
When her disease took its toll, she
underwent a double lung transplant
at the University of North Carolina
Hospital in Chapel Hill. When a few
years later, rejection sent her
through another transplant, she
faced it with the same positive
attitude. Nothing was easy but she
felt life was worth the risk.
Chapel Hill became her home and
ours as she bounded through three
and a half years of wonderful
breathing, more traveling and
embracing her job with the UNC
Athletic Department. She tutored
student athletes, mostly football
players who learned to love her.
When she couldn't climb the steps
in front of the classroom building,
they carried her.
There is not a person she knew,
from her Georgia childhood friends,
her family, her Chapel Hill friends
and transplant community, who
didn't love and admire her
brilliance, creativity, biting wit,
compassion and glowing soul.
When a star shines so bright, the
light left behind never dies.
Services will be Tuesday, January
29, 2008 at 2:00 PM at Lord &
Stephens Chapel, WEST.
In lieu of flowers, please make a
contribution to 'The Sweet Melissa
Fund' for transplant families at
UNC Hospital c/o Becky Cicale, Lung
Transplant Coordinator, 111 Hogan
Ridge Court, Chapel Hill, NC 27516.
Lord and Stephens Funeral Home,
WEST, 1211 Jimmy Daniel Road,
Bogart, Ga., is in charge of
arrangements.
Published in the Athens
Banner-Herald on 1/27/2008.

Prayers are sent,
Otis