Liz Sutherland’s Memorial Page

Just before the sun set on Friday April 3, 2009 our dear friend Elizabeth was taken from her earthly home to sit at the hand of our father in heaven. An aneurism in her brain failed and stopped her breathing. She slid from the back of Bean, her favorite horse, to the soft green grass of Kauonolulu ranch in upcountry Makawao, Maui Hawaii.

This was a place Liz would come for solace, to forget the world beyond the pack of 6 horses she had adopted as her friends. A secret garden of sorts, on 50 or so acres of lush pasture, with a deep gulch forested with eucaplytus trees and the home to my family of Polo horses. I was by her side when this happened. I would like to share with all her friends and family what I know of her last days with us.

A week earlier one of my mares, Covergirl, was caught in a fence and badly cut and bruised. When Liz stopped by the pasture I was loading Covergirl in the trailer to take her home for more care and a quiet place to rest. Liz insisted on following me home to help with the first aid. In the coming days she came over,cooked dinner for my Vet and me, and cold hosed the mare’s swollen legs in the pouring rain, wearing my hat and cowboy raincoat that came down to her ankles! She was packing her belongings for her move back to Aspen on Monday, selling her car and saying her goodbye’s to friends. She wanted very badly to stay on Maui and planned to return when she worked out the details of her Aspen home.

On Friday she came to the pasture and we took a sunset trail-ride, through the gulch full of tree ferns and oversize impatient flowers, suprising a herd of Deer that hide in there during the day. Liz was so happy! She kept saying how excited she was to be riding “her boyfriend Bean” He is a sweet little red gelding that she visited every day, feeding him the baby carrots she always had stashed in her pockets.

Running Bean up a hillside of tall flowers, butterflies and two pheasants jumping up in front of her, she was squealing with joy! After watching the sun start to set over the west Maui Mountains we turned back to “let go the horses” as we say here and make a last dinner together. We trotted up toward a dark cloud coming at us from Pi’iholo in the east with a full rainbow in front of it.

I was 20 feet away when Liz suddenly slipped off Bean and went flat on her back, not moving. I jumped off and ran to her and saw she was not breathing, with a faint pulse. I started CPR and called 911 at once, the EMT’s were on the scene in minutes, thank God we were back by the road.

They took over and brought her to the hospital. Her family arrived overnight from Phoenix to be by her side along with her close Maui friends. Many thanks to the kind emergency staff, ICU nurses and doctors that saw to her. Her love for others and foresight to be an organ donor has saved at least 5 others peoples lives who were in dire need.

Liz had no pain and I know her last hours were spent with love and the joy of being in her special place, surrounded by natural beauty and on her favorite horse, all thoughts of the drama of everyday life cleared from her mind. She was happy, smiling and in a perfect place. We should all be so lucky.

Always remember her as the kind, sweet woman she was, so dear to friends and family, and great kindness in her heart for all animals, especially horses. This memorial page was created to keep her spirit alive and perhaps give her friends some solace knowing she is in a better place and help those far away that maybe have not seen her in some time the chance to visit with her and know the place she loved so much.

Please take time to look over the pictures of where she lived and enjoyed her life.  It is the best of Maui’s upcountry, clean air, green grass, deer, horses, owls and horses… with views of the mountains and pacific ocean.

Mahalo and Aloha,

Bob Nooney

Po'okela Rainbow

Bean