Rainbow Girls

Sue and I were in Rainbow Girls together. Sue and I were at a convention and we were sharing a room together. We were kinda bored so we decided to order a pizza just so we could see if the person that delivered it was cute or not. We ordered a large pizza and when it came we decided to have a contest to see who could eat the most and the fastest. We started shoving pizza into our mouths as fast as we could and by the time we were halfway done with it we were laughing so hard we both peed our pants. 


What fun times we had. I will miss her but love her forever. 
Prayers to the family. 


Marian (Smart) Greenlaw
Fellow Rainbow Girl and Friend

Bearcats vs. Wildcats

Sue, Mike, Shelley and Judy - October 2010

On a sunny October day, Sue, Mike, Judy and Shelley traveled to McMinnville to watch the Bearcats play the Wildcats. A good time was had by all. Topped off by ice cream on the way home.


Michael Plank,
Former student, Asst. Head Men's Basketball Coach and Recruiting Coordinator, Friend

Daffodils - Sue's Favorite Flower

I think of Sue each spring as the crocus begin to poke through the ground. Because I know, the daffodils are soon to follow. 

Over the many years of our friendship, I often would bring daffodils to Sue on her birthday. When she moved into her house I brought bulbs for her garden. Spring flowers were always prominent in her garden with daffodils in abundance.

"Daffodils" (1804)

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretch'd in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

By William Wordsworth (1770-1850).

The coming of Spring and the anticipation of daffodils will always remind me of Sue and her love of for this flower.

Shelley Sump

Friend and Partner in Crime 

The Red Sweater

For several years, sales people were allowed to set up shop at tables outside the bookstore in the U.C.  A couple of times there was a vendor who sold gorgeous hand-knit (or so he said) sweaters from Bolivia (or somewhere).  There were very few "smalls" available.  I had looked for one in red, but was told the only one in the stack had been sold earlier that day.  I came back to the office and was telling this story to several staff when Sue came out of her office and said, "Oh, I bought that for Mindy for Christmas, but here -  you can have it.  I have something else for Mindy anyway."  


We argued back and forth about it because I didn't want to feel guilty forever for denying Mindy this wonderful Christmas present.  As usual, Sue won out.  She insisted I take the sweater and then refused to let me pay for it.  "Merry Christmas," she said, and gave me a hug.  Of course, I kept the sweater, which I still have and love.  (Sorry, Mindy).

Teresa Hudkins
Friend, Colleague and Red Sweater Owner

Norway - August 1974

Sue in Norway - showing off her hair!

This photo was taken in August 1974 at the Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo, Norway.  I chose this photo because I loved Sue's ability to be silly and have fun and just plain laugh.  In the nearly 40 years we knew each other, no matter what was going on in our lives, we always found something to laugh about.  Sue enjoyed life and it was contagious, I feel very lucky to have 'caught' some of her lust for life.

(Yes, this is short, but as Sue knew, one of my goals in getting through Willamette was to never write a paper and I succeeded!)


Lynn Hendrickson

Doney dormmate and friend

Sue's Rules

Sue published these rules in one of her updates during the last year. Mindy, Sue' s sister, has asked me to put them on the website for all to enjoy!

SUE’S RULES

1. You can cry with me, but only if you laugh with me, too.
2. Be kind to each other.  You are a crazy, eccentric group of people with many strong personalities.  That’s why I love you, but it’s also why you’re likely to clash occasionally.  If you are unhappy with each other, keep it to yourselves.  I believe you’re all like Mary Poppins—practically perfect in every way—and will hear nothing to the contrary.
3. Join me for the fight, not for the surrender.  I am living my life, not dying.  Don’t forget that.  Don’t talk to me as if you’re saying goodbye.  The past tense is banished from my vocabulary.  Clean up your language, too, or I’ll have to wash your mouth out with soap (as my mother used to threaten).
4. Pray, chant, curse the gods or beam positive karmic thoughts my way--whatever works for you.  I am gratefully accepting any and all modes of healing you have to offer.  I’m envious of those of you who have strong faith, but you’re going to have to accept that I might not share it.  My faith is in you.
5. Vote Democrat.  Oh well, I just thought I’d try to get that one past some of you.
6. Don’t tiptoe around me.  I don’t imagine that I’m going to get any less impatient or irascible, so you’ll just have to deal with it—as you always have. 
7. Get a flu shot.  Dr. Orlowski’s assistant suggested that those who intend to spend time around me should do this, as some of the possible treatments might leave me vulnerable to whatever crud is going around.  I’ll want to see you, so protect yourself and me at the same time.
8. Stay tuned for more rules.  I’m sure I’ll come up with some new ones.

Best Friends Forever

Shirley and Sue Swinging - 1950's

When I think about Sue I realize although she was my cousin, she was really my first best friend. Our Fathers were brothers and Sue was born 6 months to the day after me. Back in the 1950’s our parents were each others best source of entertainment. Card games on Saturday nights, Camping trips several times during the year (rain or shine), swimming at Conn Dam and sleep over’s made up the core of our existence; Sue and I were side by side through in all. 

Shirley and Sue - 1970's

As Sue’s family grew there were two more Sisters added to the group, but Sue and I were the leaders of the pack. The day was not complete until we had sung “Mindy let a windy” and laughed till we wet our pants, a tradition we continued into our adult years. Our paths went in different directions as we became adults, I married young and had a child, she went to college (Sue’s intelligence was always amazing to me, Rauch’s were not know for their smarts!) and became a woman of the world as she traveled in her job. 

Cousins - Mindy, Sue, Shirley and Laurie

No matter how far away our paths went, we would see each other at least once a year for our annual camping trips and it was as if we were still in the back yard planning our next adventure. I loved her sense of order and fairness, her love of reading and games, her ability to laugh, even at herself, but most of all I loved her ability to love others. 


Enjoy heaven and let my Dad win every once in a while. 


Shirley Rauch Clauss
Cousin and BFF

The Start of the Elephant Phase

Sue and Betsy - Thailand 1989

Side view - Sue and Betsy still hanging on!

Elephant rides are great!

Shared by......

Betsy Gilchrist
Doney Dormmate and Friend

Great Aunt Sue

Hey, Elizabeth and  Alexandria,

I first met your Great Aunt Sue in 1972 and had the pleasure of knowing her for 38 years.   She was one of those people who lived a big life.   She collected friends the way a mangy dog collects fleas.  Her schedule was always full but she still managed to have a peaceful time every morning by getting up early and spending some time drinking a cup of coffee and reading her latest book before she went to work.

In 1972 I was a lowly college freshman and she was an sophisticated sophomore.   Chance had put my roommate Ann and me in the room next to Sue.  During that year, Sue taught me how to flip the bird which was an important life skill for an 18 year old in 1972.  If you need to practice, balance a pen between your little finger and thumb and fold your other two fingers over the pen leaving the middle finger...you can figure out the rest for yourself.   Sue frequently wore her A&W shirt.   Her obituary mentions the fact that she played softball and was accepted to Stanford but the way that I remember her stories it seemed like working at the A&W might have been more important to her teenage life.  Sue had an overstuffed chair in her dorm room and people would gather there to talk.   She liked to go to the coast and sit on a blanket eating crackers, cheese and summer sausage.   One of the things that most astonished me about Sue was the way that she would take notes during class.  My notes were full of sentence fragments and dashes but Sue's appeared to be smoothly written complete sentences and paragraphs.  

Sue lived her values.   She loved her family and friends.   She was always willing to add to her legion of friends and welcome new people into her life.   She appreciated intelligence and, perhaps even more, education and that led her to a career at Willamette.   She loved spring flowers and planted hundreds of bulbs.   She loved her dogs, first Hank and then Rex, and was always ready to have friends' dogs over to play. 

During the last 15 years of her life, Sue, Shelley, Cindy and I used to get together to play pinochle, dominoes and Quiddler.   Just like flipping the bird, Sue taught me how to play pinochle.  Sue almost always kept score.   She complained occassionally but mostly but she wanted to do it.  I think that was her way of maintaining order.   Sue loved order and she loved rules.   She felt like they should all be followed faithfully no matter how silly.  If the rules said to click the last domino before playing it, she wanted you to do it.   On that one, she didn't get her way but she continued to mention it.  Games always came with food and Sue had her quirks, most notably the no mushrooms rule.  And there were books, lots and lots of books traded over the years.

The absolutely silliest thing that I ever saw your Aunt Sue do was when we were at the beach and she made some spaghetti pie.   The next morning, she asked if we wanted leftovers for breakfast and I said yes right before she said that it had been left out on the counter all night.   Girls, never ever eat meat after it's been left out on the counter all night.   Sue had done lots of intentionally silly things before but proposing salmonella, oops, spaghetti pie for breakfast was, well, Sue was a smart woman but, that morning, not so bright.  Oh, and one more thing that I learned that weekend was that, even if she had abandoned the NYT crossword for an entire day, you better not touch it.

Sue was a terrific person.   She adored your father, her nephew Dylan.   And then, when you two were born, she adored both of you too.  Always know that her love surrounds you.

Jackie Coakley

Doney Dormmate and Friend

Smart. Direct. Funny

Smart. Direct. Funny.

Simple words, but the ones that keep coming to mind when I think about Sue. Someone I consider a great mentor and friend.

The first time I met her was in the parking lot of my high school when she came for a school visit. I was in my Willamette sweatshirt and she immediately thought I was nuts. During her session with my classmates in the school library, she eventually asked me to be quiet or leave because I kept filling in details about Willamette (I knew I was going).  It wasn’t the last time she got irritated with me and filled me in on why. In the following years she gave me an earful when I:

- didn’t produce enough foam for her latte in the Bistro

- subcontracted my work study job out to some full-time employees

- let a legally blind person drive the admission car in the Sparks parking lot

- forgot to clean up her house after house sitting when I was a senior

- gave a really bad speech – when everyone else raved, she and I knew it stunk and she pointed out all the problems and why it was awful

She taught me the value of being direct with others.  Being honest, always loyal.  Her humor was infectious.  On days I worked hard for her in the admission office, I know she worked harder – interviewed more prospects, read more files – and documented and synthesized all of the information in a much more coherent and useful way than any of the rest of us.

She always checked in, danced with me at my wedding, sold me her car – interest free – and always gave me a place to crash when I came back to Salem.  She was one of the best that Willamette ever produced – a true friend, a treasure and someone that I already miss.

Chris Simmons 

Prospective student, enrolled student, work study student, 
house sitter, employee, colleague, admirer, friend OF Sue

Help Me Rhonda!

My name is Sarah Jennings and I worked at Willamette for 18 years and had the honor of working with Sue from time to time.

About 17 years ago, Sue called me in the dean's office and said "help me"  -   for reasons that I do not know, I broke out singing "help me Rhonda, help help me Rhonda!"  We both started laughing and from that time forward we called each other Rhonda!  It was a true bonding moment and served us well - it was something that always made us smile.

Thank you for letting me share my fond memory of Sue.

Sarah a.k.a. Rhonda

Friend and Former Colleague

That's My Cousin!

Sue visits Napa - 1988

I always admired my older cousin Sue. She was the same generation as my Mom, but was always someone I loved to hang out and talk with.  She went to college, had a "career" and not just a job, was an outspoken-unabashed feminist, read a book a day, and had a wicked sense of humor.  I really wanted to do and be all of those things too, and loved to hear her opinions and stories.  I can remember her going on and on about the Equal Rights Amendment.  I didn't know anyone else who talked about this stuff!

In this photo Sue had come to Napa to speak to students at our local high schools about Willamette.  I can remember hearing her name in the daily bulletin and saying "That's my cousin!"  I would go see her at lunch, and she'd be all dressed up in her best business suit.  So different from when I saw her camping.  We also would have dinner with her, and I loved to hear about her latest trip to Asia and what books she had read.

I'll always remember the family reunion we had summer of 2003.  We were staying in the WU Lodge, with amazing views of the river.  "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was coming out while we were on our trip.  Sue had pre-ordered her copy to arrive in Eugene.  She picked up copies for Mindy and I as well, and we spent our days on the river sitting side by side buried in our books. At night we would talk about what we had read, although Sue was so far ahead she would have to be careful not to ruin the story.

 
Cancer claimed another great one. I will always carry a little piece of Sue with me in my love of books and learning, feminism and terrible jokes.  I know she is curled up with a good novel, Hank at her feet.  

Mischief Managed Sue.

Seana Wagner

Cousin

"ElFranco"

Shelley, Teresa & Sue - ElFranco's Staff - 1985

Sue, Teresa Hudkins and Shelley Sump, but particularly Sue, loved spoofing me by pointing out my resemblance to Groucho Marx.  So nose glasses became code for the boss “ElFranco”.

In the mid-80’s they took a series of pictures of themselves in the University Center decked out in nose glasses and big Groucho cigars.

For my retirement they gave me their version of the 1984—86 Willamette University Catalog cover. 

I think this picture makes clear how much fun Sue, the ring-leader, is having. 

Sometimes when she got off a good “Groucho” joke she would almost double over with laughter.          

                       

Frank Meyer

Former Colleague and Very, Very Good Friend

Willamette Never Had a Better Friend, and Neither Did I

Sue and Judy at Sue's 50th Birthday Party

"Willamette Never Had a Better Friend, and Neither Did I"

by Judy Basker

"to be posted soon"

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am in a thousand winds that blow,

I am the softly falling snow.

I am the gentle showers of rain,

I am the fields of ripening grain.

I am in the morning hush,

I am in the graceful rush

Of beautiful birds in circling flight,

I am the starshine of the night.

I am in the flowers that bloom,

I am in a quiet room.

I am in the birds that sing,

I am in each lovely thing.

Do not stand at my grave bereft

I am not there. I have not left.

written in 1932 by Mary Elizabeth Frye

Strong Willed Women

I remember when I first arrived at Willamette in my position as Vice President.  Sue and I danced around each other for about a month, when one day she candidly said to me “I wasn’t sure this was going to work out.  After all, when you interviewed, you hardly acknowledged me.  Now I see that we are just two strong-willed women who want the same results. We’re going to be okay.”  That cracked me up, and still does and always will, because it was so Sue.

Robin Brown
Former Colleague and Friend

He Only Takes the Best

Every time I think of Sue, I remember this little saying that I received when I lost my mom last June. 

"God saw her getting tired and a cure was not to be. So He put His arms around her and whispered "come to me." With tearful eyes we watched her, and saw her pass away. Although we loved her dearly, we could not make her stay. A golden heart stopped beating, hardworking hands at rest. God broke our hearts to prove to us, He only takes the best."

Linda Lombard
Colleague and Friend