One of Suzanne Fountain’s best friends says she was the kind of person who almost certainly died while saving others’ lives.
In fact, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she was confronting the (person) who did this, to be honest with you,” said Martha Harmon Pardee, Fountain’s friend of 30 years. “She was fearless and funny and giving, and just a salt-of-the-earth person.”
“She was a peace-lover and a strong feminist and I loved her immediately,” Pardee said. “She was my soulmate.”
The two even played the same character in the same play. Fountain played ”Younger” and Pardee played “Older” in the University of Denver’s “Voice of the Prairie,” even though in real life the two were born only a week apart. “She used to give me endless grief about being older than her,” Pardee said.
Fountain lived in Broomfield, but on Monday she had an appointment at a hair salon in the same shopping center where 10 people were killed at a Boulder King Soopers.She will be remembered, Pardee said, as a woman full of love and the life of any party. “Boy, did you eat and drink well when you went to her house,” Pardee said.
Fountain didn’t just make friends, she added. “She kept them.”
Fountain was born Aug. 31, 1961, in Flemington, N.J., and grew up 130 miles north in Clinton Corners, N.Y., near Poughkeepsie. She attended the College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y., and studied acting at Circle on the Square in Manhattan. She moved to Colorado in the early 1980s, drawn to the area’s peace-loving bohemian lifestyle, making music and creating art. She worked for years at Nancy’s, the iconic Boulder restaurant that closed in 1999.
Fountain’s co-worker, Linda Lackman, said Nancy’s employees were like family, and that Fountain was later a bridesmaid in her wedding. They routinely gathered for dinner over the years — naturally, Fountain hosted many of those meals.
“She was a connector — she always was bringing people together,” Lackman said. “You ate and you drank and she made a mean skinny margarita. And she was a joy to be around. Her smile was magnetic. She was a radiant human being.”
Fountain was an avid gardener with a particular fondness for her peach tree at the Broomfield home where she lived for 20 years raising her son. “She was an incredible mother who imbued Nathan with the kind of values we hope all our young men carry with them,” Pardee said.
Fountain was active in the metro theater community from 1987-2002, including three productions with the Denver Center Theatre Company: She played a party guest in an updated version of August Strindberg’s “Miss Julie” in 1991; she appeared in Gary Leon Hill’s “Back to the Blanket” in 1991; and she played a housekeeper in a stylized production of Garrison East’s “Uncertainty” in 1992.
“I remember her being a lovely human being, a wonderful colleague, and a trustworthy and talented actor,” said her “Uncertainty” castmate, Jacqueline Antaramian.
Fountain could play anything, from fragile to ferocious. She even played Piglet in the Arvada Center’s 1987 children’s staging of “Winnie the Pooh.” The next year, she won the Denver Drama Critics Circle Award as Best Supporting Actor for her performance as Laura in the Victorian Playhouse’s’ “The Glass Menagerie.” The Denver Post’s Alan Stern called Fountain “utterly compelling” in the role. “With her translucent skin, frightened eyes and intense spirituality, Fountain resembles a wounded bird one views with fascination, pity and delight,” he wrote.
Her co-star in that play was her future life partner, actor and producer Phi Bernier, who, according to a family friend, “is devastated, of course, but very grateful for the outpouring of love and support from so many quarters, including the theater community.” Bernier said to tell everyone: "She was the light of my life."
Fountain also earned rave reviews for her role as the caring nurse in the Nomad Theatre’s 2002 cancer drama “Wit,” which earned four stars from both The Denver Post and Boulder Daily Camera. “Her warmth was just extraordinary,” said Billie McBride, who played the cancer patient. “She was so wonderful in the part, and just totally real. One of my favorite scenes to play was just the two of us sharing a Popsicle together. I love her.”
Other triumphant roles included playing Emily Gibb in the Nomad Players’ 1990 production of “Our Town” and Rose in “Woolgatherer,” a two-person play staged by Theatre Group. “Man, that woman was colossal, strong, deep, smart and kind,” said her co-star, Kevin Hart.
Their director was Michael R. Duran, who said the pair “tore it up” on stage. “Suzanne will always remain in my heart and memory as one of the best actors I’ve ever known,” Duran said.
Fountain stayed active in the Boulder cultural community over subsequent years as the House Manager for the nationally syndicated, environmentally conscious radio variety series eTown, and as a volunteer for Local Theater Company.
“Suzanne was a bright light to all she met, and we were proud to have her represent eTown in our community as she welcomed people into our space hundreds and hundreds of times,” the organization said in a statement. “This is an unfathomable loss for all of us and a painful reminder that our society can and must do a better job to prevent these acts of violence from becoming normalized in our culture.”
Fountain is also survived by her parents, Harold and Marjorie Fountain of Clinton Corners, N.Y.; sisters Julia Amato and Jennifer (MacAskill Edward); brothers Phillip Fountain and David Fountain (Amy).
She was, Fountain’s mother said, “A true friend.”
March 27, 2021 at 01:00PM
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SUZANNE FOUNTAIN | Award-winning actress recalled as 'fearless and funny and giving' - Colorado Springs Gazette
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