Individual Details

Sue Milburn Baldwin Howe was born on August 10, 1909 to Grace and William Baldwin in Tulia, Texas.
The small family settled in Oklahoma in the first years of its statehood before moving to Dallas, Texas, where Sue's father passed away when she was eleven. Sue studied speech and drama until graduating from high school in 1926. She attended college and traveled briefly as the leading lady of a tent show that brought stage productions to Texas towns too small to have movie theaters. She soon transferred to UCLA, where she majored in English, was a member of Sigma Kappa, and joined the drama club with such notable classmates as Cliff Carpenter, Wesley Addey, and Lloyd Bridges, whom Sue remembered as the best dance partner she had in school.
Sue graduated in June of 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression and counted herself lucky to land a job at the Famous Department Store in Pasadena, California, where she worked for the next eight years while acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, at Altadena's Theater Americana, and in Hollywood.

In 1942, Sue was getting ready to marry former classmate and beau Jack Howe, when Jack's draft notice arrived. At eight a.m the morning after their March 8 wedding, Jack had an appointment with the recruiting Sergeant and was assigned as a psychologist. Over the next several years, three children John, Catherine and Janet were born and the family settled in 1949 in Altadena.
While many of Sue's acting friends went pro—including Jean VanderPyle who became the voice of Wilma on the Flintstones, Ray Booth who played old timers in Westerns and Bob Lee who was head of CBS's decoration and owned an island—Sue's children were too much of a joy to her to bear the thought of someone else raising them, so she remained at home, enjoying both her family and acting at the Theater Americana, which became a family thing, the children performing in plays along with Sue. Attending opening nights in particular were a Howe family tradition.
In 1970, with all three children grown and after years of difficulty, Jack and Sue agreed to divorce and Sue began her world travels, visiting Scandinavia, Russia, England, France, the Netherlands, and Germany.
In 1983, Sue moved to Boise where her daughters were living with their families. She auditioned at the Boise Little Theater that very summer, beginning what would become almost three decades of acting, volunteering and enduring friendships. Sue's most memorable role at the BLT was undeniably Opal, being invited back for a total of five appearances as the lovable eccentric.
In 1988, Sue suffered an accident that broke her knee. Seeing her age, her doctor was simply going to equip her with a cane or walker, but once he learned that she had broken her knee while whitewater rafting, he changed his plan. A bone graft and two pins later, Sue was on her way back to a full recovery.
In 1998, the Statesman ran an article about Sue's job at the Boise National Forest Service, entitled, "Still working at 89," which shocked much of her acquaintance, still under the impression she was about twenty years younger. Even after retiring from the stage, Sue continued to work and to film commercials for television.
She retired at last in 2003 at the age of 94, but continued to live on her own, filling her time with books, music, church and friends and family. Sue marked her 100th birthday in August of 2009 surrounded by friends and family in a celebration held at the Boise Little Theater.
At the age of 101 Sue suffered a heart attack one morning and passed peacefully in her sleep a few days later on March 20, 2011, with daughters, Cathy and Janet, at her bedside.
Sue is survived by her three children, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Memorial services will be held at the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Garden City on Friday, March 25, at 11:00 a.m.
Published in Idaho Statesman on March 24, 2011

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Birth	10 Aug 1909	Tulia, Swisher County, Texas
Census (family)-shared	16 Apr 1910	(William Henry Baldwin Jr. and Grace Milburn) Madill, Marshall Country, Oklahoma
Education	4 Feb 1916	School Enrollment - Madill, Marshall County, Oklahoma
Census (family)-shared	20 Jan 1920	(William Henry Baldwin Jr. and Grace Milburn) Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Census-shared	10 Apr 1930	(Grace Milburn) University Park, Dallas County, Texas
Census	10 Apr 1940	Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California
Marriage	8 Mar 1942	Los Angeles County, California - John Wesley Howe Jr.
Divorce	Oct 1969	Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California - John Wesley Howe Jr.
Residence	1 Dec 2003	Boise, Ada County, Idaho
Death	20 Mar 2011	Boise, Ada County, Idaho
Obituary	22 Mar 2011	Nampa, Canyon County, Idaho

Spouse	John Wesley Howe Jr. (1911 - )
Child	Living
Child	Living
Child	Living

Father	William Henry Baldwin Jr. (1882 - 1921)
Mother	Grace Milburn (1887 - 1979)

Notes