Susan Hopkins West Mapp

Susan Hopkins West Mapp
“Tutti”
June 30, 1943 – May 11, 2026

Susan Hopkins West Mapp — artist, naturalist, educator, and beloved “Tutti” — passed away on the evening of May 11, 2026, at 11:17 p.m. at Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, Mississippi. She was 82 years old, and characteristically, was planning her 85th birthday celebration.

Born June 30, 1943, Susan was the daughter of Ben Marshall West — an Air Force pilot who later became a professor of law at the University of Southern Mississippi — and Marjorie Dee Hopkins West. Her early childhood was shaped by the world. When her family was stationed in Japan, toddlers Susan and Sharon developed a lifelong kindred connection with Japanese aesthetics and deep appreciation of the natural world. The family later lived in Germany before returning to the Mississippi Gulf Coast she would always call home. She graduated from Gulfport High School, where Susan was voted “most beautiful.”

Memorable to her siblings, as a teenager, Susan tamed a wild horse. Her life continued its vivid navigation, full of love, surfing waves of creative inspiration, nature, wisdom and wildness.

She earned her undergraduate degree in German with minors in speech and music from Tulane University, and a master’s degree in early childhood education at the University of Southern Mississippi with an emphasis in creativity — a subject she pursued with scholarly fascination and artful passion for the rest of her life. She was magical when teaching children, and brought out the timeless creativity and essential childhood spark in anyone she taught, reflecting, “One can learn how to paint from children.”

As a teacher, Susan possessed a rare and generous gift — the ability to draw out the artist in others and ignite in her students a love of creativity and a deeper attentiveness to the beauty around them. Her creativity and artistic expression practically became contagious to those lucky enough to spend time with her. Her brilliant mind, kind nature, intellect, keen perception and courage were palpably appreciated and will be missed by all who knew her. Susan played guitar and sang with beautiful soulful abandon. She had a deep, free-hearted laugh, unique perspectives, love of music, and a sense of humor that lit up a room. She saw through to the truth of things with lucid clarity, loved with her whole heart, and lived vibrantly.

As a naturalist, Susan moved through the world close to the ground and alive to its wonders. She waded into bayous, camped, explored and painted among pitcher plants, cultivated wildflowers and butterflies in her yard, and found in the coastal landscape of Mississippi an endless source of inspiration and renewal.

Her art reflected this same wild attentiveness. Working in oils, watercolors, acrylics, pen and ink, and mixed media, her style moved fluidly over the decades from realism to impressionism and into surrealism — always in conversation with the natural world she loved. She studied under Vernon Reinike, Sammy Britt, and Nancy Rupp, and while in Glasgow immersed herself in the work of renowned Scottish artist Craigie Aitchison. Her studio — lovingly known as Tutti’s Studio by the Sea — was her creative sanctuary in Gulfport. She was among the founding members of what is now the Gulfport Arts Center, originally known as the Gulfport Galleria of Fine Art, and exhibited widely in galleries across the Gulf Coast region.

Among shows in various galleries and collections through the years, in 2019, the Southern Miss Gulf Coast Library celebrated her artworks, presenting “Mississippi Potpourri, the Art of Susan Hopkins West,” a retrospective of over 40 works tracing the full arc of her artistic journey.

Susan navigated life’s full measure with grace, courage, and an undefeated spirit. Where others sailed calmer waters, she traversed white waters with creativity, faith, humor, soulful courage and an open heart. She was a devoted member of Crossroads Assembly of God Church, and her Christian faith was woven through the fully-lived facets of her life, teachings, paintings, explorations, fellowship and loves.

She adored her parents and her sisters with a devotion that was its own kind of art, and she was especially cherished by her nieces and nephews, with whom she shared sweet relationships.

Susan was preceded in death by her parents, Ben Marshall West and Marjorie Dee Hopkins West; her husband, John Mapp; and her beloved daughter, Audrey Elizabeth Ellzey — a gifted musician, piano composer, and music teacher who brought her own creative light into the world.

She is survived by her sisters, Sharon Anne West, MD; Pamela Marshall West-Ticer, RN, JD; and Patricia Menier West; and by her cherished nieces and nephews, Nusa Maal, PhD; Eduardo Maal; Pedro Maal; Margie Ticer Baumann; Marshall Ticer, JD; and April Ticer; Bonnie May; and Molly May; as well as beloved friends, students, and fellow artists whose lives she touched and transformed.

Susan will be cremated. A celebration of life will be announced at a later date.

Visitation
Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home
1726 15th Street, Gulfport, MS 39501
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

In her memory, a music playlist curated by her family:
music.apple.com/us/playlist/tutti-susan/pl.u-NpXm9RGuNjEvv

“Never Give Up On Your Dreams” - Tutti