Healthcare Hero Spotlight: A Conversation with Sue Rink

Sue Rink has been devoted to her Cloverdale community for years, first as a school teacher: She taught at Jefferson Elementary from 1999 until her retirement in 2012. Since then, Sue has been a generous donor to various small, local organizations. 

It was her good friend and neighbor (and former Healthcare Foundation Board member) Peter McAweeney who first told her about the Healthcare Foundation, inviting her to some events. Impressed by the Healthcare Foundation’s emphasis on education, including in its pipeline for mental health professionals, Sue became a Healthcare Hero and chose to make her contribution in the form of a monthly sustaining gift, recognizing the importance to the organization of the steady, reliable funding stream that monthly sustaining donations provide. 

Sue graciously agreed to speak with us recently from her home in Kauai, where she spends part of every year, about her connection to Cloverdale and northern Sonoma County and what inspires her to give back to her community. 

Can you tell us how you came to make your home in northern Sonoma County?

I was born in San Francisco and I grew up in San Carlos, just south of San Francisco. I got married in my mid-20s and we moved to Sonoma County. We ended up buying a piece of property near Cloverdale. My husband was a builder, so he built the home in 1992 and we raised our kids there. (He also built our home here in Kauai.) I was a school teacher, working part-time and commuting to Santa Rosa. I ended up getting a job with the Cloverdale Unified School District, at Jefferson, which at the time was kindergarten through third grade. I believe that was 1999. I retired in 2012, so I got to know the community very well. There’s only one school for kindergarten through third grade, one middle school, and then the high school. It’s a small town, eight or nine thousand people. I’d go to the grocery store and my kids would say, “Oh, look, it’s Mrs. Rink!” I got to know all the kids. I’d have siblings from the same family, I’d know the parents. I felt very involved in that community. 

That’s why I like to support northern Sonoma County. I live there and I taught there. I know the kids that went through that system. I know at least one of them was one of the young people who received a [Mental Health Talent Pipeline] scholarship through the Healthcare Foundation.

How did you learn about the Healthcare Foundation?

My neighbor used to be on the Board, Peter McAweeney. He’s a very good friend of mine and he encouraged me to be a Healthcare Hero. He explained how important it is to an organization, for its operations and planning, to be able to know the income they can count on. So I decided that was the way I wanted to go.

“That’s why I like to support northern Sonoma County. I live there and I taught there.”

Sue Rink

What inspires you to give to the Healthcare Foundation in particular?

It’s a good way to give back to my community. I believe in education. It’s so vital. And giving people an opportunity is really important to me.

You spend part of your year in Kauai, which is a second home to you. Do you miss Cloverdale and the region when you’re away?

Oh, I do miss it. I’m leaving Kauai on Saturday, and I’m looking forward to going back to my home there. It’s absolutely beautiful. Cloverdale is a great little town. It hasn’t changed a whole lot over the years I’ve lived there. It still has that small town feeling. I go to the post office and I always see somebody I know. It’s a really wonderful community. I’m close to Lake Sonoma, and I spend a lot of time over at the lake. Hardly anybody goes there, sometimes nobody’s there. I love the natural beauty of the region. Santa Rosa, yes, that has changed. But once you get up to Cloverdale, it’s like going back in time. It’s peaceful; it’s beautiful. It’s my home. My kids live close by and so do good friends that I’ve known for 30 years. It’s got everything as far as I’m concerned.

What do you like to do now that you’re retired?

I’m an artist. I paint in watercolors and oils. Right now, I have a friend visiting and we’ve been going out everyday for plein air painting. We drive to a different location, pull out our easels, set up our paints there on the road, and we paint. I call myself the Midnight Painter. I promote my art a little on facebook and Instagram. But I do it mainly because it makes me happy. It does make me very happy. I’m busy doing that and taking workshops. In fact, I’m so excited because in October I’m going to Mallorca for an art workshop. I can’t believe I’m going there! You can go all around the world with art. It’s my therapy.

Do you actually paint at night?

I do! I paint sometimes a lot at night. I don’t know why. I’ll paint outdoors during the day, but then I’ll also do watercolors. I’ll just start painting in the evening and before I know it it’s midnight. I think to myself, “I guess I should be going to bed at some point,” but I don’t know, everybody’s asleep, it’s so quiet, it’s just a nice time. Some people are morning people. My sister, for instance, will get up at four in the morning. That’s what she likes. I’m on the other end.

I feel very fortunate to live in northern Sonoma County. Being a teacher in this community has been a very rewarding career. Now that I am retired, I appreciate having more time to enjoy it even more. I’m grateful for the full life that I have and that I am able to give back to my community and know it makes a difference.