Ellen Braunstein
Suzanne Hirsch Binswanger, an interior designer, lifelong volunteer and devoted matriarch who lived her Jewish values through family, creativity and community service, died July 14 in Philadelphia. She was 94.
Known to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren simply as “Suby,” Binswanger embodied a gracious strength and elegant vision that shaped both the spaces she designed and the lives she touched.
Her character was rooted in the values she was raised with. “We grew up in a Jewish household that valued the morality and ethics of Judaism. My parents felt that it was those values, not the rituals, that mattered most,” daughter Jody Binswanger Snider said.
Born in Elkins Park in 1930, Binswanger was raised in a culturally Jewish home. Suzanne’s father, Harold Hirsch, died when she was 15, leaving her mother, Ruth Butler Hirsch, to raise Suzanne and her two brothers on her own. She remarried several years later. Though shaped by early loss, Suzanne’s childhood was also marked by warmth, stability and a deep connection to loved ones that remained central throughout her life.
She attended local schools in Elkins Park and developed an early appreciation for aesthetics and design, an interest that would later become her professional calling.
In 1950, she married Frank G. Binswanger Jr., beginning a 72-year marriage rooted in mutual respect, laughter and adventure. Frank worked in commercial real estate and supported Suzanne’s ambitions wholeheartedly.
“She and my dad had an incredible relationship,” said daughter Eve Binswanger Wildrick. “They traveled the world, laughed constantly, and made life fun — whether planning adventures or creating memories.”
One cherished tradition was their themed costume parties, some so memorable that their grandchildren still talk about them. “They had a fabulous costume closet,” her granddaughter Remy Klein recalled. “One year, they came to my summer camp dressed as gorillas and filled the dining hall with bananas. They were hilarious, and they didn’t care what anyone thought.”
In 1962, Binswanger founded Executive Interiors, initially as an art consulting business, a bold move for a woman at the time. “She used to walk into people’s offices and see nothing but diplomas on the walls,” Wildrick said. “She believed spaces should inspire, and that’s what drove her work.” What began with selecting artwork quickly evolved into full-scale interior design services.
“She always ended the workday at 4 p.m. so she could be there when we came home from school,” Wildrick said. “Then she’d pick things up again after we went to bed.”
Though she didn’t have formal design training, Binswanger developed her expertise with guidance from a mentor in a New York showroom and through instinct, observation and persistence. “She had an incredible eye for color, space and proportion,” Wildrick said. “There’s a part of design that’s just innate, and she had it.”
Her client list included executive offices for Wolf Block Schorr & Solis-Cohen, Price Waterhouse, Walter Annenberg and the last residential project of famed architect Louis Kahn.
She and Frank also nurtured a love of antiques, collecting English creamware and fine decorative objects. “They filled their home with beautiful objects, each one chosen with intention,” Klein said.
While not overtly observant, Binswanger remained closely tied to her Jewish identity. She belonged to Reform synagogues Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park and later Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia after moving downtown.
“She had very strong Jewish values,” Wildrick said. “She believed in doing good and being fair.”
She devoted time and energy to causes she believed in. She was a founding member of Collab, a design-centered affiliate of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and she also supported the Barnes Foundation, the National Liberty Museum and the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History. She served on the board of the Butler Family Fund and contributed to Fox Chase Cancer Center and the Marriage Council of Philadelphia. She also participated in a local women’s philanthropy group called the Do Gooders, which pooled funds for community projects.
“She stayed involved in the community and the arts,” said Klein. “She showed us what it meant to be engaged.”
That spirit extended to the personal, where she and Frank created meaningful experiences that brought generations together.
They took their grandchildren on trips around the world. It wasn’t just a vacation; it was part of a broader belief in education, experience and connection, Klein said. “We went to China, Cuba, Africa and Bermuda. They made sure we explored the world.”
They also celebrated an annual Grandparents’ Weekend, a tradition that became a cornerstone of their closeness. “The grandchildren, now adults, are still best friends,” Wildrick said. “That’s Suby’s legacy. She supported us in everything we did. She gave us the wings to fly.”
Ellen Braunstein is a freelance writer.
