KILMARNOCK—Susan Sheppard Arrison of Kilmarnock passed away on February 15, 2025. She had recently celebrated her 82nd birthday with her loving family.
Susan was born on February 5, 1943, in Norfolk, to Howard and Margaret Sheppard and raised in Philadelphia with her siblings, Jane and Norman. She attended Germantown Friends School followed by the University of Pennsylvania where she earned varsity letters in basketball, lacrosse and field hockey, and served as president of Delta Delta Delta sorority.
In 1959, she met the love of her life, James Matthew Arrison III, and they embarked on their life together. They were married on July 31, 1965, and immediately flew to Hawaii where Jim was stationed. Her life as a Navy wife would take her around the world, including stops in Japan, Coronado, Calif., Carmel, Calif., Newport, R.I., Charleston, S.C., Bahrain, Fairfax and Norfolk.
In addition to her roles as wife and mother, Susan enjoyed a career as a paralegal focusing on wills and estates. When Jim retired from the Navy in 1991, they settled into Alexandria, where Jim began a second career as a financial advisor and she continued her work in the legal field. On April 1, 2012, they both retired and relocated to the Northern Neck and a home on the banks of Dividing Creek, very near the Chesapeake Bay.
Her life with Jim was filled with adventures as they traveled extensively. Some of her favorite destinations included Italy, India, South Africa, France, Greece, the British Isles, Israel, Russia, Australia and New Zealand. Among Susan’s favorite places was her family’s home in the Thousand Islands in Canada. She enjoyed numerous summer days there with family and friends and created countless memories. She and Jim enjoyed golfing whenever possible as well as many ski vacations with their family.
Left to cherish her memory are her husband of nearly 60 years, Jim; her son, Jamie (Suzanne); her daughter, Dixcy (Mark); and her grandchildren, Matthew (Meredith), William (Anastasiya), Jack, Courtney and John; and great-granddaughter, Emma; as well as friends too numerous to count, but all dear to her throughout her life.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Wicomico Parish Church at 11:30 a.m. March 8. Susan will be inurned in the columbarium at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
