Susan Heywood Hanback Buffalo

Susan Heywood Hanback Buffalo, of Nokesville, VA, passed into glory on Friday, October 11th after a short battle with pneumonia. She was born at the Columbia Hospital for Women on August 3rd, 1943 to Albert Heywood and Maryanne Hanback. Susan was raised in Arlington, Virginia and graduated from Wakefield High School in 1963. After a few years of study at the University of Virginia extension she began work at the United States Department of State. It was here she met her future husband, Harvey Alexander (Hank) Buffalo, Jr. of Little Rock, Arkansas. Susan and Hank were married on February 11th, 1967, at Little Falls Presbyterian Church in Arlington, VA. Susan and Hank quickly moved overseas to be posted in London, England. They spent the better part of the next 25 years serving the United States at various posts across the world, including Bonn, Germany; Belgrade, Yugoslavia; Moscow, former CCCP; and Paris, France. Arlington, Virginia was their regular home, and between each post they returned to the same, living on Upland Street in Arlington until 2005. In 2005 they sold their home in Arlington and moved to a small farm in Nokesville, Virginia. They lived there together until Hank’s passing from Parkinson’s disease in 2012. Susan remained in Nokesville, enjoying the remainder of her years living with her daughter Sasha, her husband Eric, and their six children. Susan loved her family with a huge heart, and that family wasn’t just about blood, it was anyone who came through the doors of her home. To say she was a big den mother would be an understatement. Up until her final moments she was reaching out to family, extended family, old friends, and all her children’s friends. She offered love, encouragement, and advice to all. Her love and resilience were exemplified in the care she gave to her husband. As he began to suffer greatly from Parkinson’s she remained a stalwart by his side until the end. She leaves behind her three loving sisters, Alane Lee Wallace (Richard), Deborah Anne Kirchner (David), and Melynda Jane Legg. She is also survived by her two children and their families, Harvey A Buffalo III (Jennifer), of Wakefield, VA, and Sasha Sanders (Eric), of Nokesville, VA, her 14 grandchildren, Hannah Schleede, née Buffalo (August), Alexander McCabe, Ailidh Arwyn, Penelope Aiofe, Emmett Albert, Riley Afton, Sean Harrison, and Duncan Elliot Buffalo, and Aedan Alexander, Regan Ashley Ann, Tiernan Christopher, Shane Jackson Wayne, Shana Mya Maree, Kaiden Airleas Sanders, and her two great-grandchildren, Constance Victoria and Atticus Isadore Schleede. Funeral Services will be held Friday, October 25th, at 12:00pm at Pierce Funeral Home, 9609 Center St., Manassas, VA. Interment will follow at Quantico National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

Susan Heywood Hanback Buffalo

August 3, 1943 - October 11, 2024