Obituary: Sue Ann Lingenfelter Binkley Tatem

May 19, 1944 – January 6, 2025

Sue Ann Lingenfelter Binkley Tatem (SALBT as she signed her artwork) was born in Dayton, Ohio to Ed and Ann Lingenfelter. She grew up in Wisconsin until high school when her family moved to Broomfield, Colorado. Sue earned a bachelor’s degree in biology summa cum laude in 1966 from University of Colorado in Boulder. She met her first husband, Timothy Glenn Binkley at CU-Boulder and they had a daughter in 1965, Shelley Sue Binkley.

After graduating college Sue and Tim moved to Texas where they both pursued their doctorates. Sue earned a PhD in Biology at University of Texas in Austin in 1971. Sue and Tim eventually parted ways in 1970.

Sue went on to complete a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Health in Rockville, Maryland. She then obtained a position as a professor of Biology at Temple University in Philadelphia. She was a pioneer in science as one of few women college science professors in the 1970s. She pursued her research in circadian rhythms (biological clocks), becoming an expert in the field. While at Temple Sue garnered over $1 million in federal grant money to fund her research. She taught Endocrinology. Sue wrote and published 4 books, a textbook on endocrinology and 3 on circadian rhythms and biological clocks.

Always creative, Sue pursued interests in painting and many other hobbies. She initially focused on figure drawing and still-lifes but eventually transitioned over to plein air landscape painting. She also enjoyed tennis, walks in the woods, scuba diving, and photography. Sue and Shelley spent many happy days traipsing around in the woods at the Schuylkill Valley Nature Center in Philadelphia, PA, Sue with camera in hand, Shelley engaging in “treasure hunts”.

Sue was an easy conversationalist, quick with funny one-liners, and made friends wherever she went. She traveled often for scientific meetings and her hobbies. It was on one of these adventures Sue met her second husband, Henry Randolph Tatem III (Randy), in 1981 on a scuba-diving trip. They were married from 1983 until he passed away in 2016.

Sue retired from Temple in 1995 and she and Randy relocated to Aspen, Colorado. Together they traveled the world. Sue was an active member of the Red Brick Arts Center in Aspen where she took many classes and held gallery shows. Her plein air landscapes had an impressionist flair. The Denver Post named her the “Van Gogh” of Aspen in 2012. Her paintings remain on display in many Aspen institutions and private homes.

Sue also enjoyed her grandchildren who remember her as their slightly eccentric artsy grandma who swam with them in the pools in Aspen, engaged them in art projects, and joined them on hikes in the surrounding mountains.

Sue relocated to Tacoma, Washington in 2023 to live near Shelley. Sue experienced a stroke on December 23, 2024, to which she eventually succumbed January 6, 2025. She enjoyed a wonderful life and died in peace and gratitude. Gifts in memoriam can be made to The Red Brick Arts Center and Aspen Valley Animal Shelter in Aspen, Colorado.