On July 20, 2026, Susan Elaine Hankinson passed away peacefully in Baltimore, Maryland. Susan pursued a very serious, very intense ballet school training under the tutelage of Yvonne Chouteau and Miguel Terekhov in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, from the age of 8 thru 18. After the end of her final high school semester, her father took her up to NYC to pursue her ballet studies with Maggie Black.

She returned to Oklahoma City in 1975 to join Ballet Oklahoma and work as a company member and faculty teacher for the School of Ballet Oklahoma until December of 1980. While living in Dallas, Texas, Susan began taking weekly Pilates lessons with Colleen Glenn. She was inspired by The Pilates Method of Body Conditioning and decided to pursue Pilates training as a career path. Susan always wanted to learn from the person who learned from Joseph Pilates himself. Her dream was fulfilled when she was accepted as an independent study at Drago's Gym in NYC in 2001. On September 1, 2001, she started her third career path with Romana Kryzanowska. On 9/11, she was in the studio with Romana. Susan and Romana had a common bond of friendship ... Yvonne Chouteau was Romana's best friend as a very young ballerina. Yvonne was also a pupil of Joseph Pilates himself. Susan was certified by The Pilates Studio®/Authentic Pilates® in New York City in March, 2002. She has been teaching in different studios in Dallas, Texas, up until her recent relocation to Towson, Maryland in 2013.

The other major part of Susan's life was practicing the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin with the Soka Gakkai International (SGI Value Creation Society) since 1974.

She began her practice in New York City while studying ballet. She returned home not long after beginning her practice to Oklahoma to care for her mother who was ill.

She participated very actively in SGI activities, including the Young Women's Fife and Drum Corps. She moved to Dallas, Texas and practiced with SGI there, too.

Our friend, Susan, came to Baltimore in 2013 after getting her dream job teaching Pilates at Goucher College. She loved working at Goucher and took great pride in teaching. She was delighted with her students and the opportunity to teach.
Her health was a major challenge off and on throughout her life, especially in the last years. However, no matter the situation, she practiced with absolute confidence in her practice of Buddhism, never begrudging her challenges. Anyone who knew Susan knew she extended her life through her sincere Buddhist practice.

We will miss our strong-willed fighter for kosen rufu (world peace).

Susan died peacefully in her sleep (in her home) on Sunday night.

A Memorial Service will be held at SGI-USA Buddist Center, 521 Progress Drive, Linthicum Heights, MD 21090, on Saturday, August 29th, at 10:30 AM.