3 minute read
Remembering Suzette Verkozen
By Helen Wolff, Camphill Village Copake
These reminiscences are from Suzette Verkozen’s time in the Stained Glass Studio at Camphill Village Copake, and there are many others who remember Suzette very fondly from other workspaces and house communities. Suzette most recently lived in Camphill Ghent until her passing in November of 2024.
Suzette helped create many pieces over a period of 26 years when she worked three mornings a week in Copake’s Stained Glass Studio. Suzette and Susie Taube were two of the original people in our community who were trained in different parts of the craft. Suzette was particularly skilled in wrapping each small piece of prepared glass with copper foil. The copper foil technique enabled several of us to be engaged in the creation of a panel or a window. Susie liked to clean and polish the framed, finished panels, quite meticulously.
Our first bigger project was a window for the St. Michael Chapel in Camphill Newton Dee, Scotland. Suzette carried out some of the work, which was then shipped to Scotland for completion and installation.
She helped build several large and small windows, besides countless panels and sun catchers. She became so good at her craft, that new coworkers, who wanted to help, had to check if their work was up to Suzette’s standard!
If Suzette had to wait for glass pieces to be prepared for her, she became restless and annoyed. Her signature big happy smile returned instantly when new work arrived! She also took great interest in special commissions and projects. When these were picked up by the commissioner she expressed her joy and approval in having worked on their order. Often she’d have the person sit for a quick portrait, which they could take home.
Although Suzette used hearing aids, she could establish a rapport with others through non-verbal empathy. She would take photos of groups which she created in the studio, made up of visitors, passers by, members of the studio and the tour guides. She would name them for her album, and when she didn’t know a name, they were designated “friend.” She enjoyed showing her albums before sending them on to her family in California for safekeeping.
Many in the Village have stories to tell about Suzette. At her funeral on December 2nd, The Reverend Michael Brewer shared some of them. She lived in Copake from the age of 28, lived in many of the houses, until she moved to Camphill Ghent, where she continued being helpful and appreciated for several years. At the family’s request, Suzette’s ashes will be interred at the Quiet Place, in Camphill Village, in the springtime.
