It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Susan Elizabeth Wilson Gilliam, PhD, a loving mother, grandmother, aunt, teacher, and friend who was peacefully called home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. She transitioned at the age of 76, in New Haven, CT, surrounded by loved ones during her final moments.
Dr. Gilliam was born on March 19, 1948 in Bangor, ME and grew up in Waterville, ME where she graduated at the top of her class from Waterville High School in 1966. She then received her BA in Mathematics and Education in 1970 from the University of Connecticut. She later received her Master’s in Urban Studies in 1977 from Southern Connecticut State University and her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from UConn in 1985.
She had a deep passion for teaching mathematics at all levels in the New Haven Public School system and had an immense and profound impact on several generations of young people. Susan was a beacon of warmth, kindness, strength, and intellect to all who knew her. A pure soul, who never met a stranger, she dedicated her life to her family and friends, always there with a listening ear and a comforting presence. She was a lifelong educator and a beading enthusiast who got great joy in making beautiful jewelry for others.
After retiring from New Haven Public Schools in 2007, she continued to teach with New Haven’s Gateway to College and then as an adjunct mathematics professor at SCSU where her classes were always full. Not only did Susan have a great passion for teaching, but her family and relationship with God were of the utmost importance to her. She enjoyed watching her children and grandchildren grow up and regularly attended all activities be it sports, dance, or music among other things.
She had an immensely strong faith in her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. At the time of her passing, she was a trustee and member of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. Before finding her home with Friendship she and her family had been members of Community Baptist Church where she preached her trial sermon as a minister in the early 80s. She later joined Bible Gospel Center and Immanuel Missionary Baptist Church before finding her place at Friendship. She was a worshipper who understood her role as outlined in 2 Corinthians chapter 3: a living epistle.
Susan was predeceased in death by her parents, Raymond and Elizabeth Wilson; brother, Larry Wilson; and former husband, John Rudolph Gilliam.
She is survived by her children Jennifer Jenkins (Anthony), John Gilliam, and Jessica Gilliam; step sons Derrick Vaughn and Kevin Gilliam; as well as her grandchildren, Jalen Anderson, Jonathan Anderson, Jayla Anderson, and Ta-Jae Jenkins; siblings, David Wilson (Susan), Beverly Musolf (Dale), and Jane Bickford (Dan); and a host of nieces and nephews including Nicole Musolf, Lear Chretian (Kyle), and Alex (Cory) Moser. Her love for her extended Gilliam family is too long to list but her heart was large enough to contain all of the sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, and grand nieces and nephews in love who were extremely close to her heart for more than half of her life.
A celebration of life will be held on Friday, March 21, 2025 at 5:00 PM at Beulah Heights First Pentecostal Church, 782 Orchard St, New Haven, CT. Friends may call Friday at the church from 4:00 – 5:00 PM. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her memory to The Dr. Susan Gilliam Memorial Scholarship via Ignite the Voice. Services by Howard K. Hill Funeral Services, 1287 Chapel St, New Haven, CT 06511. To leave a message of comfort for the Wilson Gilliam Family, please visit, www.hkhfuneralservices.com
We will forever cherish the memories we shared with our beloved mother.