Suzan Harmon Stephenson

Suzan Stephenson, age 78, passed away peacefully on December 8, 2025, in Adelphi, Maryland. She was born on December 1, 1947, in Hartford, Connecticut, the first daughter of William Gowing and Susan (Freeland) Stephenson. Suzan grew up in Harwinton, Connecticut, graduating from Lewis S. Mills Regional High School and earning a bachelor’s degree in English from Bates College, Lewiston, Maine. She went on to graduate school earning a master’s degree in library science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She started her library career with the Prince Georges County Memorial Library System at the Bowie Branch in 1971. She remained at the Bowie Branch until her retirement in 2017. From an early age Suzan was fascinated by horses, especially thoroughbred racing horses. She was the curator of the Selima Room, which contained information about Bowie’s horseracing history, at the Bowie Branch. It was one of the few horseracing and breeding libraries housed in a public library in the country. She was a longtime member of the Bowie Heritage Committee and volunteered at the Belair Stable Museum.

Suzan is survived by her sister Rebecca (Dom) Fratta and her brother Robert (Peg) Stephenson, nephew Matthew Fratta and nieces Sarah Fratta and Emily (Derald) Smith.

In lieu of gifts of consolation, the family requests that donations be made to the Maryland Horse Foundation, 321 Main Street, Reisterstown, MD 21136.