On December 4, 2022, Susan L. Swan, 79, a resident of Pullman, Washington, pἀssed away in the home of a friend of the family who also lived in Pullman. During a time of waɼ, Susan L. Swan was born in Everett, Washington, on May 31st, 1943.
Before her father’s plane was sh0t down over the Pacific a few weeks before the war ended, she had a strained relationship with the pilot. Harold Berry, Doris Berry’s second husband, adopted Susan and her younger brother Michael after she wed him.
Some of her favorite childhood memories were Tekai, the family dog, the family cabin on Camano Island, baseball, becoming a Campfire Girl, spending time with her grandparents and other family members, and spending long, sunny days at the beach.
She was admitted to the University of Washington due to her independence and wit, and it was there that she first met Victor Swan, the man who would become her husband. After graduating from high school, they relocated to Bellingham, Washington, where they attended Western Washington University to further their education.
They moved to Pullman to pursue their doctorates after earning their master’s degrees. Before retirement, both had a variety of responsibilities during their time at WSU. In addition to visiting Australia and New Zealand, they also visited Alaska, Hawaii, England, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark during their nearly twenty-year marriage.
They also had one daughter. Susan had a strong commitment to both her family and her job. She was a voracious reader, an imaginative watercolorist, and a motivating teacher. Susan was a multilingual woman who co-authored a textbook in Spanish and contributed to another textbook in a different language.
She had the opportunity to encourage a generation of young people to value the cultural diversity that global society offers while teaching world civilization at Washington State University. This topic includes social studies, music, and the arts. This was her best accomplishment and the one she was most proud of.
Susan was also active in the history department and served as a volunteer at the Multicultural Center at Washington State University. She believed that education was essential for the creation of a society that was strong, respectful, inclusive, and compassionate, so she was committed to enhancing possibilities for those who were economically disadvantaged.
Susan had a significant impact on many people’s lives through various channels. Still, to me, she will always be “mom”: a lovely, sensitive, complex, creative, compassionate, wistful, humorous, and occasionally puckish spirit.
She was the woman who carried a picnic lunch for two up onto the garage roof with me one summer, who read Judy Blume aloud to me, who painted black cats on my ceiling, who rocked Abba on vinyl, who wrote notes from Santa in the scrawling script, who loved a good boutique chocolate, who adored a mystery with a shocking twist, who laughed too loudly in movie theaters, and who was once attractive enough to pass for a starlet.
Check out the following posts if you want to read additional posts about other people’s obituaries:
- Rick Hummel Obituary: A Life of Dedication and Service!
- Nancy Sue Mosier Obituary: She Remembered in Loving Memories!
She leaves behind her daughter Kerrigan A. Swan, son-in-law Richard Garcia, brother Michael Berry, nieces Nicole and Michelle, as well as many other family members and acquaintances, including a close friend named Michael R. Banks and his wife, Silvia Salmeron.
A memorial service will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church, situated at 1300 NE Lybecker in Pullman, Washington, on Thursday, December 15, 2022, at one in the afternoon. The Pullman Corbeill Funeral Home has been entrusted with the responsibility of handling the arrangements.
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