Sue Lee Mossman is a key for community support
Sue Lee Mossman was nominated by multiple members of the community for her work supporting and connecting others with services.
Chip Sharpe, one of the people who nominated Mossman, said the two have been acquainted for “almost 50 years.”
“When I was diagnosed with cancer 10 years ago, Sue was right there, offering reassurance, referrals, and a listening ear,” Sharpe said in his nomination letter. “She shared with me her own story of surviving cancer 40 years before. If I told a friend about my cancer diagnosis, the response usually included, ‘Have you talked to Sue Lee Mossman?’ “
Sharpe called the TimesStandard on Thursday to talk about Mossman’s nomination while his wife was receiving treatment for her own cancer diagnosis.
“(Mossman’s) quite modest about what she does,” Sharpe said, noting that she’s been integral in the lives of both he and his wife.
“Much of what Sue does is behind-the-scenes grunt work to better enable organizations and committees to accomplish their goals,” Sharpe said in his email. “Those of us who wake up to emails in our inboxes from Sue marvel that they were sent in the middle of the night. (Rumor is that she sometimes sleeps.)”
Barbara Maderas also lauded Mossman, calling her both tiny and mighty. Her letter cited the “diminutive dynamo who brings hope and peace to so many.”
Mossman, a retired biology professor at Cal Poly Humboldt, spends her time supporting the community through the Breast and GYN Health Project, the League of Women Voters, the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and the Betty Kwan Chinn Foundation.
“Sue is a wonderful person,” Maderas said on Thursday. “She is so upbeat. She’s ready to help people. And, of course, she’s become the go-to person for anyone, particularly the women in our community who really have to deal with breast cancer or any other GYN cancers.”
Terry Uyeki, another person who sent in a nomination letter for Mossman, also noted she is modest but mighty.
Uyeki noted Mossman’s efforts to help create the Eureka Chinatown Project, calling her “an invaluable contributor and project committee member, seeking to commemorate the existence of the Chinese population that was driven out of Humboldt County.”
Uyeki added that “Sue’s heroism comes out of kindness and love and she does so without fanfare or publicity.”