There were no records of camp committee minutes referring to Sue Patenge as the director during summers 1972-74, but Rhonda Thayer and Carol Hulett were at camp during those years and had totally opposite impressions of her, as did a few other counselors, parents and campers.
Sue had been a physical education teacher in Mt. Clemens and despite the five- year difference in their ages, Carol, a pre-med student and the nurse at camp, and Sue became very close friends.
“She was very organized and business-like and loved being with the kids. Her Mom had been a camper (Berta Patenge) and her grandmother had been on the board at the YWCA and had even come to visit her one summer at camp. She was a very detail-oriented person and everybody liked her,” said Carol.
“Hypo”, as Carol was known lived with Edna the cook in the Infirmary. She nicknamed Sue Patenge “Junior” because she was the boss and Carol was the junior boss, as outlined in the article entitled “The Big Four” in the “Loon”. According to the 1974 article in the “Loon”, Sue had discovered her job from friends (B.J. –a classmate in one of her high school classes) in Bay City and thought she would enjoy directing a camp because “she enjoys being with us—likes the things we do, the decisions we make and the stunts we play on the staff, as long as they are funny”.
For “Junior”, who had a three-year directorship, this was the only camp she had ever worked and she wanted to return. She enjoyed travelling, playing cards, tennis, reading, and listening to people.
“The first year Sue Patenge was the director and Carol Nieman was the assistant,” said Rhonda, business manager (1974-77) ,who was not particularly fond of Sue. “Things were done her way. I lived in the back room of the lodge. Sue had some friends who lived on Hillsdale. One night I could hear the boys yelling to the girls on the street and so I hollered down to them and it happened that Sue was down visiting her friends and when she got back, she hollered and screamed at me! I loved my time at camp the first and last year, but I never like Sue’s attitude. As a camper you want to have fun,” said Rhonda.
Sarah Smith had served under three different directors, from Dorthe to Sue Patenge and then Carol Nieman. She loved Sue, as did Mardi Jo Link, who thought Sue was very loved, but if the girls did anything wrong, she did not hesitate to “take them on”.
Others, as one senior staffer wrote, believed her leadership was disappointing and the grounds were not kept as they had been in the past. One of the parents of a respected counselor was so disturbed by the condition of the waterfront, he confronted her and told her to get the place cleaned up.
The counselors were such great role models,” said Betsy Falvey (1968-75). “I think it was Dorthe’s last year the first year I was there and then the last year I was there was Beanie’s first year. Sue Patenge followed Beanie into the early seventies as the director. My Mom was friends with Sue and I became friends. The camp needed money during those years. They were always worrying about the inspections for health and fire. I was the kitchen aide under Sue,” said Betsy. Marge Falvey, (mother of Amy and Betsy), had served on the YWCA camp committee from 1971-74 and had been involved with the “Y” for years.
Carol’s memories included Sue’s fear of horses. Some summers instructors owned the horses, but the one summer they were rented and “we were at the mercy of the stable as to what horses we got,” said Carol. The girls had to get used to the horses, but Sue, who loved the kids, did not like the horses.
“It was Christmas in July at camp. She put on a red Speed-O bathing suit and a red Santa hat and rode one of the gentlest, but tallest, horses, because she was 5 ft. 10 inches tall. Down she rode from the lodge to the campfire,” said Carol.
“She never met a stranger she didn’t like and she was the type of person who would bring food to you in a picket line. She eventually had to give up the director position because she was one of those people who went above and beyond, even at school, and there was so much work for camp during the off season.”
Were you at camp when Sue Patenge rode the horse to the campfire?
So first a couple of corrections, Sue Patenge was not “Junior” Carol the asst director was Junior as Sue was the Boss Lady. I would also doubt that Sue ever yelled at anybody unless a child or a younger staff member was in danger. She rarely raised her voice either as a teacher or as a coach. There was no “Hillsdale” and there were no boys in camp. Sue was actually reluctant to socialize with the staff as she was always afraid she would inhibit their fun and being young herself she felt she needed to “stay the boss”. In the evening you could pretty much always find her in her room in the lodge or walking through camp to make sure all was well.
Thank you so much for your correction and comments! You sound like you may have known her very well! Hillsdale is the street below the lodge that ran along the middle of the development adjacent to the camp. I believe Ms. Thayer may have been referring to the boys on that particular street. (Perhaps, as a young woman, she was sensitive to criticism and felt slighted by a scold?)