Obituary
BROOKS, Susan
March 1947 – August 2020
Susan Alison Brooks, Sue to all who knew and loved her, has passed away after a fierce battle with cancer, returning to the stars. Sue will be deeply missed by her husband Bill Brooks, her daughters Pam Nichol, and Wendy Best (Don, daughter Claire), her step-daughter Bronwen Hope (Ryan, daughter Sadie, son Kendal), step-son Christopher Brooks (Rochelle, daughter Katheryn, son Alexander), sisters Linda King and Jennifer Saemann, and brother Stephen King, nieces Allison Saemann (Jason Zerr, daughter Karissa Zerr), Erin Campbell (Chris, son Cohen), and nephew Jason Saemann (Caroline Abrey). She was predeceased by her parents Eve and Ray King, her brothers-in-law Alex Wilson, Karl Saemann, and her step-son Brennan Brooks. Born in Redhill, Surrey in England in 1947, Sue, emigrated to Canada with her parents, Ray and Eve King, in 1950. Throughout her life, Sue was constantly on the lookout for ways to improve and reinvent herself, as a mother, a lab technician, a teacher, a partner, an entrepreneur, a mentor, a confidante, and a fierce friend. She embraced the power and the value of knowledge and learning, and was caught up in the wonder that was her life and the world around her. At the same time she constantly looked for the best in others and helped bring it to the surface. Sue sought out challenges and positions that would allow her to elevate and inspire others with her thirst for knowledge and her own boundless creativity. She always brought her passion and intelligence to whatever she put her hand to. She taught gifted children for 12 years, excelling to earn The Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence in Science, Technology and Mathematics, 1996. In later years, after completing her Master of Education in Curriculum Development, she and her partner, Bill would start a company specializing in teaching businesses how to harness the tools of creativity in their day to day operations. She served as President of Business and Professional Women of Saskatoon from 2014-2016, as well as working with Saskatoon Summer Players on projects dating back to 1975, participating on-stage and back-stage, as well as on the Board of Directors early in the days of the organization and then again on the Board of Directors 40 years later. Sue loved her home and was always happy to share it with friends old and new. She was always a warm and welcoming host, her dining room often alive with the laughter and conversations of friends and family. She loved her garden, ever careful with the green and growing things there, relishing the flood of colour they brought forth. She loved to sing, her alto ringing out for decades among her dear friends at Knox United Church and in their choir. Even as she fought her disease, she pushed herself to keep on living, taking on new challenges such as joining a handbell choir, training to run 5KM on the anniversary of her first surgery or modelling in a fashion show with other survivors, bringing hope and grace to those who fought as she had. And even when she was given a life expectancy of only two years, that wasn’t enough for her, and she lived for five instead, ever grateful to the medical professionals who shepherded her through her illness: Doctor’s Bathini, Iqbal, Fourney ,Tyan and their teams at RUH and Saskatoon Cancer Centre, and her family physician, Dr. Khanna. Above all else, Sue was kind, generous, and accepting of those she encountered, doing all she could to leave them a smile on their faces or the spark of some new idea. She faced her life, and her death, with a grace we could all learn from. May her memory always inspire you to be kind whenever you can, to live curiously, to live generously, to live graciously and maybe to make a new friend, and to never stop learning. As Sue has requested, there will be no funeral, but rather a party, to be held at a later date, to celebrate the joy that was her life, full of music, stories, and laughter. Sue has asked that in lieu of flowers, you consider donations to Saskatoon Summer Players Sue Brooks Memorial Scholarship, Canadian Cancer Society, Hope For Wildlife, Nova Scotia, or a charity of your choice. Cremation arrangements in care of David Schurr – Mourning Glory Funeral Services (306) 978-5200.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Susan Brooks 2020..
Mourning Glory Funeral Services
Death notice for the town of: Saskatoon, Province: Saskatchewan