Obituaries

Sue, a retired registered nurse, was born in Covington, Kentucky on November 6, 1942. She graduated from Boone County High School in 1960 and St. Elizabeth Hospital School of Nursing in 1963. She was predeceased by her parents, Horace Fillmore Pelley and Geneva Colston Pelley, and her beloved brother, Harvey Pelley. She is survived by her devoted husband of 62 years, David Brock Maxwell; her daughters Janie (Jeff) Cozad of Dallas, Texas and Julie (Scott) Kalan of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania; and three grandchildren, Carly Cozad (Russell Kerns), Brock Cozad (Annie) and Max Kalan. Sue was thrilled to learn that she was going to become a great-grandmother in May 2026.

Sue was a compassionate and accomplished nurse who followed her husband’s career with American Airlines to many cities. After leaving Kentucky in 1967, she lived in Memphis; Dallas; Zionsville, Indiana; Arlington, Virginia; Mount Juliet, Tennessee; Exton, Pennsylvania; and Naples, Florida. She worked as an oncology nurse for many years and was the recipient of several awards voted by her peers for outstanding nursing.

Despite her love of nursing, Sue’s greatest joy in life was her family and her daughters and grandchildren. She chose to work the hospital night shift when her daughters were in school so she could be home during the day and evening. Often when she was supposed to be sleeping, she was instead volunteering for school field trips or bringing cupcakes to class celebrations. Her love of decorating, cleaning, and cooking combined to make the Maxwell house a wonderful place to live and grow up. In fact, her daughters never knew until they went to college that most people used a bath towel more than one time before washing it as Sue did laundry every day and insisted on daily clean towels!

Sue embraced the role of “Grammy” with the same enthusiasm and dedication as she did being a mother. She loved her iPhone, and the ability to text and Facetime with her grandchildren brought her countless hours of joy, as did reconnecting on Facebook with old friends from the various places they had lived. She was a devoted country music fan and being able to listen to her favorite old Conway Twitty and Charlie Pride songs through her phone was a newfound pleasure. Despite embracing texting and technology, Sue still had a cache of Hallmark greeting cards for every occasion and she was unparalleled in remembering the birthdays and anniversaries of her loved ones.

Courtesy of American Airlines and their employee travel benefits, Sue and Dave traveled extensively and she counted Tokyo, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Brussels among her favorite foreign destinations. Her family humored her desire to visit all 50 state capitals by driving by the capitol building in any state they happened to be in, even if it was not the primary destination! She managed to see 48, including Honolulu and Juneau.

Sue was a well-versed sports fan who started attending Cincinnati Reds games with her father in the 1950s at Crosley Field. She and her dad witnessed Hank Aaron tie Babe Ruth’s record of 714 career home runs at Riverfront Stadium on Opening Day in 1974. She also became a life-long Dallas Cowboys fan (much to the dismay of her sons-in-law) when she moved to Dallas in 1970. She attended Super Bowl XXVII at the Rose Bowl in 1993 when the Cowboys defeated the Buffalo Bills and she was awed by Michael Jackson’s iconic half time performance. She was also a college basketball fan and managed to root for the University of Kentucky, Indiana, and Notre Dame all at the same time!

Sue will be remembered as kind and considerate with a deep Christian faith, a keen sense of humor and always with a smile on her face and a Diet Coke in her hand. Her infectious laugh will echo in our hearts forever and we are grateful for all of the moments we shared. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Avow Hospice online at https://avowcares.org/ways-to-give/ or Avow Foundation, Inc., 1095 Whippoorwill Lane, Naples, Florida 34105.

A memorial service for Sue will be held on August 29, 2026 at Linnemann Funeral Homes (1940 Burlington Pike Burlington, Kentucky 41005) at 11:00am. A reception will be held immediately following in Linnemann Funeral Homes Event Center (1940 Burlington Pike Burlington, Kentucky 41005).