Susie Hupp, Sentinel reporter for stylish homes and real estate, dies at 96
Susie Hupp, a longtime writer for the Orlando Sentinel, has died. She was 96.
Hupp’s prolific run at the newspaper began in the 1970s, chronicling social events, including weddings, home tours, Arts Guild developments and far-flung vacations of Orlando residents.
“She started her career at the Sentinel doing the Tea Table Chatter [column],” daughter Marianne Gertner said. “She would tear it out of the typewriter and hand it to me, and I’d run it into the office.”
When her husband, Bill Hupp, died, she became a single parent to three teenagers. She took a full-time job at the Sentinel.
“She had no choice. To provide for her kids, she had to go to work,” Gertner said.
“She did say that she was really happy that she did go back to work because it changed her life,” said Sherry Davich, another daughter. “Being an introvert … being widowed. … I mean, at first, it was hard. But then she made such great friends. And she was so smart.”
“I think once she felt secure – and she always knew she was a good writer – she felt empowered. So when she became empowered, I think she felt equal to the men there,” Gertner said.
Eventually her coverages settled into the interior decorating, home decor and architecture realms. She co-authored with Sentinel reporter Laura Stewart a book titled “Historic Homes of Florida,” which featured 68 significant homes that were open to the public.
“She had a lot of contacts. She was valuable. People came to her at the Sentinel for any background on some of the people in the news, the society people or whatever you want to call them,” said Dean Johnson, a former columnist and co-worker at the Sentinel.
Susanne Losch Hupp was born in Omaha, Nebraska. She earned a journalism degree at the University of Missouri, and she worked briefly for the Omaha World-Herald newspaper. She met Bill Hupp in college. They married in 1951 and moved to Central Florida in 1961.
She was active in the Orlando Symphony and the Orlando Opera Guild when singer Beverly Sills was brought to town. Hupp was a member of the Third Friday Book Club, the oldest book club in Orlando.
She retired from the Sentinel in 1992, and her bylines were attached to hundreds of stories, including one about renovations to the governor’s mansion under Adele Graham, the appearance of Elizabeth Taylor at a fundraiser and the purchase of a $3.95 million mansion by Orlando Magic superstar Shaquille O’Neal.
Hupp died in Winter Park on April 19. She is survived by her daughters, her brother Richard Losch and five grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband and her son Scott Hupp. Services will be held at Maitland Presbyterian Church at 11 a.m., April 29.
