Fairy Dust

Susan Farb Morris, affectionately known as Houston’s PR Fairy, would have been 69 this month. A big fan of birthdays – hers and others’ special days – she liked seeing her birth date written in any form she could find it, according to her husband David in his eulogy. So Susan, this is for you.

AUGUST 16, 1955. 

But another date, June 14, 2024, prompts us to join the chorus of tributes to her beautiful life. Susan’s family was gathered at their Galveston beach house for Father’s Day weekend when a part of the balcony collapsed, bringing the life of one of Houston’s brightest forces to a shocking close. 

I wasn’t one of Susan Farb Morris’s closest friends. Like many people, I experienced her as a local presence, in and around Houston. Several years ago, Stan and I attended a large gathering in the home of his sister, Heather Westendarp. I saw Susan standing across the room but saw no easy way to push through the crowd to meet her. Later, as we said our goodbyes and headed to the car, Susan came running out to introduce herself.

There was that iconic face, inches from mine, smiling warmly, eyes sparkling in the streetlight. “Hi, I’m Susan Farb Morris (like I didn’t know) and I just want you to know how much I love your column in The Buzz.” I had not been writing this column very long – and here Houston’s PR Fairy herself was flying out to meet me. It should have been the other way around. 

Last February, my daughter, Julia Weber, had an art piece featured in the grand opening of the Southern Kindness art gallery in East Downtown. Julia’s father, John Gabriel, and his lady friend, Jane Vauchier, agreed to swap babysitting duties for Julia's two young boys, giving each of us time at the event. 

I felt bad because Stan and I got the earlier half, when Julia and her friends were there. Then they all headed out to dinner. That meant John and Jane would be there for the second half, among strangers. Fortunately, two of those strangers turned out to be Susan Farb Morris and her husband, David Morris. While Susan was busy working the room of the decidedly younger crowd, David approached John and Jane. “It looks like we are the only two couples here around our age,” he said. They visited a while before David managed to corral Susan into the conversation. 

“I had already noticed her,” Jane said, “because she was so beautifully dressed.” Jane is no slouch either, with a delightful British accent. John said he and Susan connected first on nonprofit projects that John was involved with as an architect. 

“It was one of those conversations that moved from connection to connection,” John said. “We stood so long talking that Susan finally said, ‘let’s all go for coffee,’” which they did that same night. Hearing this greatly eased my conscience and made me a tad envious of their evening. 

Susan working with jazz singer Raquel Cepeda on her latest birthday greetings video. Susan came up with the idea of creating a car karaoke theme.

Stan and I were flying to Albuquerque as news began to spread about Susan’s tragic passing. I wouldn’t hear about it for another day, or so I thought. Our first stop was to the Santa Fe home of Houston transplants Sharon and Keith Kirby. When we arrived, Sharon was a bit shaken over the news that one of her friends, Roberta Colton, was flying to Houston because her sister died suddenly and tragically. I had not yet heard about Susan’s death, so I didn’t ask the name of her sister. The next morning, shocking texts with links to the stunning news poured in.

As I was sharing my profound shock with Sharon in Santa Fe, she said, “That’s Roberta’s sister!” We stood there like a pair of tuning forks struck by the same mallet. That PR Fairy dust was omnipresent. 

We watched the funeral service posted in an online link. There was Roberta, the first family member to speak. Susan was born on Roberta’s fifth birthday, August 16, 1955. “She was the best birthday gift ever. It made both of us feel like August 16th was the most special day,” Roberta shared. 

Susan loved to celebrate and to make others feel celebrated. Roberta, Susan’s daughters, Hannah and Shara, and countless others since her childhood have colorful collage cards handmade by Susan with personal messages straight from the heart. 

Her annually produced Happy Birthday videos were perhaps her splashiest tributes sent on each and every birthday to her gigantic list of friends. This past year, Susan tapped Houston jazz singer/songwriter Raquel Cepeda for what turned out to be Susan’s final birthday tribute. “She had this idea of doing a car karaoke bit with the two of us singing. I was so moved that she worked with the nonprofit, Spectrum Fusion Studios that gives autistic teenagers the opportunity to create video productions, and they did a great job.” Raquel said Susan celebrated the end of the production with a party for everyone involved. 

Susan’s sister Roberta said Susan would have been shocked that nearly 800 people came to her funeral and nearly 800 watched via livestream. Not to mention the social media comments and stories that continue to be posted citywide. I am not surprised. 

In her eulogy, daughter Hannah Band shared: “I think of my mom as an exclamation point…leaving every experience, sentence and story on a high note, bringing intentionality to every moment… She took it upon herself to connect to every person she came across and to see how she could empower them and connect them.” 

“She always knew how to find and savor a moment…and knew how important it was to always say ‘the thing’; be present and vulnerable and tell people what you loved about them, why they are unique,” said daughter Shara Abelson.

Susan Farb Morris shared her birthday, August 16th, with her sister, Roberta Colton. Here, they celebrated Susan’s 67th and Roberta’s 72nd in 2022.

Roberta concluded her eulogy with a quote her son Evan Colton thought best described Susan.

“A person who is a master in the art of living makes little distinction between their work and their play, their labor and their leisure, their mind and their body, their education and their recreation, their love and their religion. They hardly know which is which and simply pursue their vision of excellence and grace, whatever they do, leaving others to decide whether they are working or playing. To them, they are always doing both.” – philosopher Lawrence Pearsall Jacks.

I wish I had known her better. I wish I would have run up to her as unselfconsciously as she ran up to me that night at Heather’s house.

As Jane Vauchier said about their delightful night at the art gallery and coffee afterward: “I was so looking forward to our next conversation.” 

Me too, Jane. I guess all we can do now is try to be more like her. If everybody touched by Susan stepped up their game just a little, Houston would become the most creative, loving, outreach capital of the world.

May the PR Fairy Dust never settle. 

Editor’s note: The Buzz joins the Houston community in mourning Susan. See Michael’s publisher’s note for more on what she meant to him and our publication. See Susan's obituary and watch her funeral service here. Watch her most recent Happy Birthday video with Raquel Cepeda here.  

In honor of Susan’s memory, her family requests donations to one of the following organizations, which meant so much to Susan: Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston; Alexander Jewish Family Service; Second Servings of Houston; The Aubrey & Sylvia Farb Community Service Fund at Congregation Emanu El. 

Susan was the inspiration behind many Buzz stories over the years and connected us with many interesting neighbors. Some of the stories inspired by Susan include Houston's Fly Girl: A trailblazing pilot's life in the clouds by Michelle Groogan, Nov. 2021, The Silver Sisterhood: Women rocking their gray hair by Cheryl Ursin, April 2002, and The birthday's new face by Andria Dilling, April 2014.