getting to the top of the hill.
Photo by Britt Doerr
Susan Rex and Britt Doerr had one of their first dates outdoors, a picnic along French Creek. Britt said it was love at first sight. When Susan looked at him, he felt like he was the only person on Earth. It turns out, Susan had this remarkable ability to make everyone feel that way. She made quick, heartfelt connections.
So too was her connection with nature. Meaningful, personal, steadfast.
Susan and Britt spent much of the six years of their whirlwind romance seeing America’s wild spaces. They visited the Blue Ridge Mountains, Zion National Park, and Yosemite, just to name a few. Britt would pack as much sightseeing into each trip as possible.
“She didn’t always appreciate my forced-march approach to vacation,” says Britt. “She’d say, ‘Do we have to see five national parks on one trip to Utah?’ and I’d tell her, ‘You never know if we’ll be back here again.’”
Closer to home, they explored Natural Lands’ preserves. The couple’s New Year’s Day tradition was to hike Stroud Preserve in West Chester so Susan could clamber up the giant hay bales and take a photo that she’d post to social media with the cheesy caption, “Hay, it’s the New Year!”
Like so many others, Britt and Susan found the preserves to be a haven during the early months of the pandemic. They turned to them for an escape and to feel more normal in an unsettling time. She sometimes chided Britt to be in the moment when they were hiking. “Put your phone down! We’re here right now.”
In August, 2020, when Susan was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer, Stroud Preserve became a lifeline. For them both.
Britt wasn’t permitted to stay with Susan during her chemotherapy treatments at Chester County Hospital because of COVID, so he’d drop her off and drive to Stroud for long walks. The preserve felt so peaceful in contrast to the upheaval in his life.
When Susan felt well enough, she wanted to spend time at Stroud. Hiking up the hill along the Gray Trail became a personal challenge—one thing in her power when it felt she had so little control over her body anymore. She’d say, “I’m going to walk up that hill and I’m not going to stop until I reach the top. I might go slow, but I’ll get there.”
In her last weeks of life, being outdoors still brought Susan peace, even if Britt had to push her in a wheelchair.
Susan’s friends and family made donations to Natural Lands in her memory when she died in August, 2022. Their outpouring of gifts was just a small reflection of the way she touched their lives. And of the authentic way Susan loved… people, animals, and nature.
Susan reached the top of the hill. We are honored to have been a part of her climb.