You read about someone who gives time and talent to help the community. You might even see them on SCVTV. They might be a celebrity all over the country or maybe just here. I hope to write about folks who are usually unsung and untarnished by celebrity status. If you know of someone like that, let me know by sending an email to my address below. Please don’t post it as a comment. Folks won’t be surprised that way.

Susan Elizabeth Reynolds is one of “them.” You know. Not a native of the SCV or California. She is a Midwestern girl born and raised in the cold winters of Elburn, Ill. That is a small town west of Chicago. She has values based on her upper Midwestern heritage, and you might even hear a little of an accent in her speech.

She seems almost always to be doing something for others. Circle of Hope to raise money for cancer research and treatment is her No. 1 charity, but she is also a member of the Soroptimists of Greater Santa Clarita. That group of women performs many miracles in the SCV and indeed the world.

Looking at pictures of Sue, I saw she had been in the fundraising event, Dancing With Our Stars. She also rides horses, and I know she can handle a horse as well as any cowboy here out West. Usually using one of those strange English-style saddles, it has been seen she can sit astride a proper and more comfortable Western-style saddle too. So maybe we can make a true Westerner yet. She is learning to pronounce Castaic properly.

Of course she works for my favorite high school district, helping students into careers they want. Sue and her late husband, Bruce, owned the NewMarket Careers Job Search Assistance Co. Eventually the William S. Hart Union High School District saw how wonderful she is and made her an employee. She is worth every penny of what they pay her, and a little more.

Asking her why she and her husband moved to the SCV, she said, “CalArts.” I knew she has an education in graphic design from Indiana University, but that didn’t explain why she moved here. No, Sue and her husband had a son attending that school. Plus she loves our weather. I’ve been in Midwestern winters. I understand.

Along with all of the other stuff she does, she is also a grandmother. Funny – she doesn’t look old enough to be a grandma. We had to limit our conversation so she could get home to babysit her grandchild. She acted like it was going to be a real hardship. Not.

That’s Sue in red, as a nominee for SCV Woman of the Year.

As we talked about her hometown and mine, we both could see how growth in Elburn, Ill. and Newhall, Calif., ran along the same course. That is one of the reasons she likes it here. “A big town with a small town feel” is how she put it. I must agree.

If this tall, dark-haired lady were living in the same era as when Mentryville was a large community, folks would say she “cuts a fine figure.” Did I say tall? Yes, she is.

Sometimes you can just tell when someone has a story to tell. Like me, she was holding the hand of her spouse when he passed. I had been holding the hand of mine when she passed. It was his passing that got her involved in so many activities to gain support for cancer research.

Adversity in life can make one stronger and able to help with many other problems – or it can make one live nearly as a hermit. Sue picked the “helping others” path in life. Wow.

Besides a horse or two that have been in her life, she also has had her share of “furry children.” She has a female Doberman or “dobe” that she has trained as a search-and-rescue dog. If I were lost, I’d surely want Sue and Nudel (the dog) looking for me.

I did find that sitting and talking with Sue is like conversing with an old friend. That is part of her Midwestern upbringing. My parents, from Nebraska, had the same quality. We had only had a short conversation or two previously. I now know why her work for charity – and I’m sure all facets of her life – are the success they are.

Elburn, Ill. lost the best when she moved here. We aren’t letting her go – ever. Newhall and the whole SCV are better because of Susan Elizabeth Reynolds. But many of you already knew that. Now the rest of you do, too.

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com and his commentaries are archived at DManzer.com. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].