The lady under the Roxborough State Park volunteer's hat is the indomitable Sue Wareck, a longtime resident of Roxborough Park.

"A master gardener who has artfully created the most beautiful and balanced garden outside her home, one that invites you to enjoy nature's peace and serenity," applauds Sue's neighbor Peggy Angeli. "Sue uses her talents as a Roxborough State Park volunteer and is a tireless weed warrior."

A friend and mentor to all she meets, Sue was raised in Long Island where she met her husband, Don, an avid golfer and skier. A Durant Scholar and graduate of Wellesley College, she began her pursuit of gardens in her senior year with courses in landscape architecture. Sue remembers the "Victory Garden" in her backyard during the Second World War.

When she married Don, they selected a prime acre of land on a golf course in Long Island, where Sue developed her skills as a gardener and landscape artist, planting trees, shrubs and flowers.

When Don retired after a heart attack, they decided to move west and discovered the beauty of the Red Rocks and Roxborough Park in 1988.

All who have met and grown to love Sue Wareck have discovered that Sue is "an amazing woman with a strong view point, a volunteer who has contributed more hours to our State Park with our School program, The Rox Ride, the wild flower hikes and her work at the Visitor's, Center," says Angel Tobin, Volunteer and Interpretive Services Manager. Angel counts the 400 hours that Sue has given as an expert on plants and flowers indigenous to our unique landscape and her expertise as a native plant master.

Sitting in the calm and beauty of her home that she and Don built on Hawthorne Trail in 1996, Sue explains that she selected this lot because of the views of the Fountain Valley Formation and meadows land.

"Look," she explains. "You can see George Washington's profile carved into the George Washington Rock." And there, in a collection of photos that Sue shares with her children and visitors, was indeed the profile of our first president.

As we talk and learn about the indomitable lady under the Volunteer hat, her blue eyes sparkling with intensity, she recalls the first time a neighbor asked her, "Have you been to The Park?" On the visit, my host screamed and leapt into my arms when a snake was discovered in their path. "No problem," replied Sue, who signed on as a volunteer, snakes and all, in 1989.

Talking about the multiple sightings of Mountain Lions that have been photographed in Roxborough Park during the past weeks, Sue remembers a special mother lion, who watched her garden for several days some years ago.

"I was unaware that the Mountain Lion was watching me just behind our walled garden next to the scrub oak and pines," she explains.

When she realized that the only "cat with a black nose I have ever seen, this full grown mountain lion showed no sign of aggression but rather peacefully blinked her eyes watching me garden," she recalls. When the incident was recorded by The Denver Post and later in the Boston Globe, Sue described the lion, "as the most beautiful putty-tat she had ever seen."

The lady under the hat who is a native plant master gardener, cares deeply about her community and about nature, "a woman who is very caring and very giving," applauds long time friend Sue Marino.

This friendship was put to the test early one morning last week when Sue called her neighbors for help when she discovered a newborn fawn on her front yard. They responded to the call and found yet another newborn in the window well.

Consulting experts the neighbors were advised to gently lift the fawn out of the window well with a towel, leaving no human signs on the baby. They were then advised to go inside so that the mother, who was watching from the road, could retrieve her babies.

"It was truly fantastic, I never saw so many spots," recounts Sue Wareck.

Now it is time to give back to the lady under the hat who cares deeply for all who she meets, says her three daughters and her circle of friends that surround her.

On the 11th of January this indomitable warrior was diagnosed with cancer. Under doctor's orders, she has finished her radiation and is ready to complete her third chemo. We know that this weed warrior who has spread her love to so many, asking nothing in return, will win the battle in the days ahead, that Sue Wareck the lady under the hat will be volunteering for many years to come.