Suzanne Charlotte Lafond, who has died aged 91, was a trailblazer from a family of trailblazers. She accomplished much in her long life and bequeaths to her descendants and her many friends both her exceptional example and her gift of inspiration.
A native of Montréal, Québec, Canada, Suzanne, born June 25, 1931, was une Canadienne francaise to her core. Her first forebear to reach North America, from the Saumurois, France, was married in Montréal in 1618; and together with her brother Pierre, Suzanne and he were the first in their family to learn English fluently and the first to emigrate to the
United States.
This Suzanne did in 1954, after she had married Nashville native Kermit C. Stengel, Jr. at Notre Dame des Neiges in her hometown. Together they raised three sons who survive her: Marc K. Stengel (Terry); Christian S. Stengel (Charlotte); and Eric L. Stengel (Christine). She is survived as well by seven granddaughters: Mary Bentley (Donald Clay III); Morgan Stengel; Sara Stengel; Zoe Stengel; Kaia Stengel; August Stengel; and Marie Stengel; by two great-granddaughters, Lily Bentley and Cameron Bentley; and by three nieces and a nephew in California, Lise L. Dienhard (Gary); David Lafond (Kim); Michelle Lafond (Brian O’Connor); and Denise Lafond.
After 27 years of marriage, Suzanne divorced in 1981. Whereas her joy until that time had been her devotion to raising a family that had by now flown from the nest, in her mid-fifties she embarked upon a second life of sorts – one full of personal achievement and adventure. Although her entrepreneurial initiation took place in 1969 with her founding in Nashville of an athletic and leisure clothing line Tennis Fashions by Suzanne, her blossoming in the 1980s included careers as a radio DJ in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles; production assistant to Julia Child for the TV series “Dinner at Julia’s”; French-language interpreter and organizing committee member for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles; voice, film and video actor in numerous radio and television commercials, documentaries and corporate productions; and founder and director from 1998 to 2008 of the Nashville Chapter of Dress for Success, a not-for-profit entity through which she provided free job counseling and appropriate business attire for women seeking to take that first step onto the career ladder.
In 1997, Suzanne was selected “The World’s Greatest Granny” by the Washington State Granny Smith Apple Growers Association; and in 2003 she was named an Athena Award recipient by Nashville Cable, the city’s leading networking organization for women in business and community service. Overarching all of these accomplishments – and many more besides – was one devotion which governed Suzanne’s life since childhood: her Catholic Faith. Among the most important religious things, she wrote in her 2013 memoir Peach Cobbler Stories, “is the virtue of Charity. First toward God, but also toward one’s self and one’s neighbor. It is a lifelong practice we must never give up.”
Suzanne died peacefully on February 7, 2023, from complications related to a series of falls and progressive dementia. She was preceded in death by her father, Léonard Rodolphe Lafond and her mother, Léa Moquin Lafond; her brother, Pierre Lafond; and her erstwhile husband Kermit C. Stengel, Jr.
A visitation and mass celebrating her life is scheduled for Tuesday, February 21, at Cathedral of the Incarnation (2015 West End Ave.) at 9 a.m. (visitation) followed by mass (10 a.m.). Interment will be at Mt. Olivet Cemetery (1101 Lebanon Pk.) immediately following the service. The family wishes to thank all the kind and generous souls who assisted Suzanne during her final years, including (but not limited to) Dr. Matthew Beuter; Dr. Brandon Downs; St. Paul’s Retirement Living Community; Mary, Queen of Angels retirement living; the Health Center at Richland Place; and Alive Hospice. Donations in memory of Suzanne Lafond may be made to Alive Hospice, Cathedral of the Incarnation or to a charity of one’s choice.
