The Inimitable Susie Smith

Copy Editor’s Note: When Susie sent me this article for editing, she wrote: “The one about Susie Smith may be way over the top. Peter Van Sickle wrote it, and I have to say I was touched, thrilled, and terrified that it is way too much.”

Well, in this Editor’s opinion, it isn’t. The Susie Smith who I know and have come to admire, respect, and love is all of these things. The world needs more Susie Smiths, but this one is the original and she’s ours!!

Elspeth Naismith

A Life of Energy, Enthusiasm, and Love for the Thousand Islands

Some people change the atmosphere of a room simply by arriving. Susie Smith is one of those people.

Her energy is immediate, her curiosity seemingly inexhaustible, and her enthusiasm contagious. Whether editing an article, supporting a museum initiative, encouraging a volunteer, or uncovering an island's history, Susie brings the same warmth, determination, and delight.

Susie's contribution is best measured not only by the positions she has held or the projects she has completed, but by the enthusiasm she awakens in others. She makes people believe that history is not remote or lifeless. It is a living collection of people, places, boats, buildings, photographs, maps, and memories - and everyone can help preserve it.

A Love of the River

Like many enduring Thousand Islands stories, Susie's began with a boat.

She and her first husband, Eliot Smith, came to the Gananoque area with friends and quickly fell in love with the islands. Summer after summer, their family returned to cruise the River, explore its channels, and become part of the community.

A research assignment for Parks Canada gave Susie an opportunity perfectly suited to her nature. She travelled among the islands, knocked on doors, introduced herself, and invited residents to share the histories of their homes and communities. For Susie, every door represented another possible discovery.

The questions multiplied. Where did the islands' unusual names come from? Who had lived in their cottages and castles? What stories had disappeared from the official record but survived in family albums and conversations around dining-room tables?

Susie followed those questions into libraries, archives, museums, and private collections. Her research eventually took her to England to study original records of the St. Lawrence River. The result was The First Summer People: The Thousand Islands 1650-1910, published in 1993 and still regarded as an essential regional reference.

The book reflects something fundamental about Susie herself. She is interested not only in the sweep of history, but in its human details: who built a cottage, how an island was named, what brought a family to the River, and why generations continued to return.

Bringing People Together

Throughout her professional and volunteer life, Susie has had a remarkable instinct for finding the human story and inviting others to become part of something worthwhile.

She has brought that ability to many educational, environmental, historical, and community causes. Wherever she becomes involved, Susie does far more than occupy a chair at the table. She brings ideas, encouragement, persistence, introductions, and usually a useful list.

Her effectiveness comes not from seeking attention for herself, but from directing attention toward the cause. She knows how to connect people who should know one another, encourage someone who is hesitant to participate, and turn an interesting possibility into an actual project.

Thirty-One Years of Museum Service

The 1000 Islands History Museum has been one of the clearest beneficiaries of Susie's sustained commitment.

Susie was a founding member of the Museum's board and served the organization for 31 years. During those decades, she brought energy to its public presence, supported its programs, encouraged volunteers and donors, and helped keep its purpose firmly connected to the people whose stories it preserves.

She understands that a museum is not merely a building filled with historic objects. It is a gathering place for memory – a bridge connecting those who came before us with those who will inherit the region after us. Her work helped reinforce the idea that preserving local history is a shared responsibility rather than the work of a small group of specialists.

At meetings, events, and community gatherings, Susie's enthusiasm had a practical effect. A person might arrive intending only to listen and then leave ready to share photographs, research a family story, introduce a supporter, or volunteer for a project. That ability comes from genuine interest in people and from Susie's conviction that every person may be carrying a story worth preserving.

On July 16, 2026, the Museum formally acknowledged Susie's extraordinary contribution as she stepped down from the board. The recognition honoured her energetic, enthusiastic, and supportive service – words that capture not only what she did, but how she did it. After 31 years, the occasion marked the conclusion of a remarkable chapter of board service while celebrating a legacy that will continue to shape the Museum.

For Susie, making history matter has never meant simply preserving names and dates. It means showing how earlier generations lived, worked, travelled, built communities, and formed their enduring relationship with the River. Her board service helped make that history inviting, accessible, and relevant.

Keeping Thousand Islands Life.com Alive

In 2008, following the death of architect, author, and preservationist Paul Malo, the future of the young online publication Thousand Islands Life.com, was uncertain. When the call went out for someone to help continue the work, Susie volunteered.

As editor and publisher, she helped transform the publication into an enduring monthly magazine celebrating the history, architecture, communities, natural beauty, and personalities of the region. Through its pages, readers have discovered people and places whose stories might otherwise have gone untold.

Susie has done more than edit articles. She has created a welcoming place for contributors. Many writers have received an encouraging message suggesting that a photograph, memory, family history, or piece of research might make a good story. Susie's confidence often supplied the confidence they needed.

Her editorial style is generous and encouraging. She looks for the distinctive detail that makes a story personal, then helps the writer bring it forward clearly without losing the voice that made it worth telling.

That is an important part of her legacy: not simply the stories she has written, but the stories she has enabled others to tell. Under her stewardship, Thousand Islands Life has become an informal archive of River life and regional history. Susie understands that today's photograph, recollection, or personal essay may become tomorrow's historical record.

Recognition Well Earned

Susie's service has been recognized throughout the region. She received the Keeper of the Islands Award in Gananoque, a fitting tribute for someone devoted to safeguarding and sharing the character of the Thousand Islands. Save The River also honoured her with its Friends of the River Award, recognizing her contribution to the environmental and cultural community of the Upper St. Lawrence.

These awards, together with the Museum's 2026 acknowledgement, are well deserved. Yet they tell only part of the story. Susie's influence is also found in the people she has encouraged, the organizations she has strengthened, the research she has inspired, and the history she has preserved.

The Spirit Behind the Service

Those who know Susie will recognize that none of this work has been approached solemnly. There is laughter, curiosity, persistence, fresh ideas, and a healthy impatience with unnecessary delay.

Susie does not merely admire the Thousand Islands. She engages with them. She asks questions about them, writes about them, protects them, promotes them, and encourages others to see them with fresh eyes.

Perhaps that is the defining quality of her contribution. After so many years, she retains the excitement of someone encountering the River for the first time. Familiar shores do not become ordinary to her. Every island may hold another story, every collection may contain an undiscovered photograph, and every conversation may reveal a forgotten connection.

Her example reminds us that community service need not feel like an obligation. In the right hands – and with the right spirit – it can be joyful, sociable, creative, and deeply rewarding.

That is the inimitable gift Susie brings to everything she does.

And the Thousand Islands are immeasurably richer for it.

By Peter VanSickle

Peter VanSickle is a longtime owner of La Vignette Island and resident of Gananoque. He says he "is a board member of the 1,000 Islands History Museum and not so secret admirer of Susie Smith." However, those Admiralty Island residents will know Peter as a "doer" and constantly assisting neighbours.

Editor's note: This really is way too much and way over the top, but because it is actually about the 1000 Island History Museum in Gananoque, a place that brings me joy and pride, I will let it go. Thanks to the Museum, the sponsors, the guests and most of all to Joanne Van Dreumel, Peter VanSickle, Georgia Ratcliffe and Joe Pal - the night is one I will never, ever, forget! [And yes, it has taken me several days to put my feet on the ground and get back to normal.]

There are so many Thousand Islands organizations that benefit from the leadership of their passionate executive directors and their staff and directors - the 1000 Islands History Museum is just one - we are so fortunate to experience this on both sides of the border. If you are not involved now and would like to be - don't walk, run to let them know - you will never be disappointed.