Susan “Susie” Jane Warford Winter was born on 16 February 1950 in Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida, to Earl Fleetwood Warford and Mary “Aileen” Sayers Warford. She was the elder of twins and spent her youth in the Miami area before moving to New York City in 1971.
In 1972, Susan met Johnny Winter while working as a personal driver for his manager,
Steve Paul
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That meeting pulled her into Johnny’s fast-moving blues-rock world: loud stages, long roads, late nights, and the dry sting of amplifiers pushed wide open.
Susan was more than a companion standing quietly in the wings. During Johnny Winter’s 1973 touring period, she joined him on stage, playing tambourine and other percussion. It was a brief but telling part of her story, placing her inside the road-show machinery rather than merely watching from a safe seat out front.
Her creative life reached far beyond the stage. Susan was a photographer, ceramic artist, gardener, cook, and rug hooker, with the kind of practical artistry that does not need applause every five minutes to prove it exists. Her photography deserves special attention in any collector-focused account of Johnny Winter’s world, especially where her name appears in album or sleeve-related credits.
Susan and Johnny married in 1993. They lived together in New York City until 1999, when they moved to Easton, Connecticut. Their life there had a quieter rhythm, built around home, travel, creativity, animals, and the private routines that rarely make enough noise in rock history.
Susan was remembered for her quick wit, warm humour, and love of games, along with her early work as a candy striper and her volunteer involvement in the New York City church community. She also had a deep affection for cats and was especially known for giving senior cats a safe, loving home. That small detail says plenty about the person behind the public story.
Johnny Winter died on 16 July 2014. Susan lived another five years and died on 3 October 2019 in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, from metastatic lung cancer. She was 69 years old. A service was held on 25 October 2019 at Union Cemetery in Easton, Fairfield County, Connecticut.
Susan Jane Warford Winter remains part of Johnny Winter’s story, but not as background furniture. She was a creative presence, a road companion, a short-time stage performer, a photographer, a maker, and a woman whose life had its own grain and texture. Like the best blues stories, hers sits somewhere between the spotlight and the quiet room after the show, when the cables are coiled and the people who mattered are still there after the noise has gone.
Susan Jane Warford Personal Events
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16 February 1950
— Susan Jane Warford was born in Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida, United States, to Earl Fleetwood Warford and Mary “Aileen” Sayers Warford.
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1950s–1960s
— Susan spent her formative years in the Miami area. She was the elder of twins.
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1971
— Susan moved to New York City.
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1972
— Susan met Johnny Winter while working as a personal driver for his manager, Steve Paul.
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1973
— Susan toured with Johnny Winter, playing tambourine and other percussion.
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1993
— Susan married John Dawson Winter III, better known as Johnny Winter.
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1999
— Susan and Johnny moved from New York City to Easton, Connecticut.
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16 July 2014
— Johnny Winter died, five years before Susan’s passing.
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3 October 2019
— Susan Jane Warford Winter died in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States, aged 69.
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25 October 2019
— A service was held at Union Cemetery, Easton, Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States.
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Family
— Susan was survived by her daughter, Judith Cocca Elerick, her grandchildren Lazer Elerick and Rebecca Remmerswaal, and her great-grandchildren Maybel and Faye Remmerswaal.
