May 25, 1946 - May 8, 2018
Born in Seattle to Fred Ross and Mabel Viola Neisinger of Monroe, WA. She had one brother; Steven Charles Neisinger. The family lived in Monroe where Suzanne attended school, graduating from Monroe High School in 1964.
Suzanne continued her studies at Central Washington University, Western Washington University, and Everett Junior College before meeting Larry Imbeau of Muskogee, Oklahoma. After a whirlwind courtship they married on April 2nd, 1966 at Monroe Methodist Church.
They then followed Larry’s work on different surveying projects around the West; living in various towns in the states of Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, and yes, even Washington. Suzanne continued her studies at Central off and on while being with Larry at his job sites on and off. She received her bachelor’s degree from Central in 1969.
They continued the nomad life for a few years before settling down in Portland, Oregon. Shortly after their purchase of a condominium with an all-adult restriction, they found themselves pregnant with their first child. A few months after the birth of their son, Christopher, in 1977 they moved back to Monroe with Larry working at his company’s Bellevue office.
Through the years they built three new houses in or near Monroe; first on her family’s property in Monroe, then another in the Nolridge neighborhood, a short distance outside of Monroe where they lived for over 25 years; the longest either of them had ever lived in one place.
Suzanne had enrolled Christopher in a co-op preschool and as he grew up she became a preschool helper, aid and eventually a teacher in the Head Start program. She loved working with young kids, their families and made many friends in the Head Start program, working there for over 20 years.
When Christopher decided to attend Washington State University Suzanne became a full-fledged ‘Cougar Mom’, attending sporting events and visiting her son there.
Faith played a large part in Suzanne’s life. She attended both Tolt UCC church in Carnation and Monroe UCC church in Monroe during the past 20 years. Suzanne volunteered in so many ways - Take the Next Step in Monroe, the Woman’s Fellowship group at Tolt UCC, and the Brown Bag Brigade Group at Monroe UCC - preparing hundreds of lunches a week for the areas homeless.
Once you were a friend of Suzanne’s you were a friend for life. She and the ‘gang’, a group of ladies she had known from grade school and junior high school still met monthly for coffee, chatting and nibbles.
In 2003, she suffered a massive heart attack and after recovery decided to downplay her role with teaching kids, reverting to a substitute teaching role until retirement in 2009.
In 2005, Larry and Suzanne made the decision to move to a smaller house, eventually deciding to build a new house in downtown Monroe next door to Christopher and his growing family. A few years later Christopher and his family moved to their ‘farm’ on acreage east of Monroe. Suzanne loved to visit their house and observe the new snow on the nearby mountains.
Suzanne always enjoyed traveling with her husband Larry; first there were numerous trips to Oklahoma to visit his family before they moved to Washington State. They also enjoyed several cruises; Alaska, Hawaii, and most enjoyably; Boston to Montreal. Another was a long Amtrak train trip that she and Christopher took to and from Washington D.C. when he was in high school.
After retirement Suzanne and Larry took several long road trips in their RV around the country visiting family and friends along the way. They both enjoyed music concerts and attended many across the country. The last one they saw, and perhaps their favorite, was Kris Kristofferson in concert at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in San Francisco this past January.
During these trips one of her goals was to visit all 13 of the official Presidential Libraries and Museums. It took over 10 years of various travels but they accomplished this goal in 2014, along with several other libraries and museums for notables such as Bob Dole and George McGovern.
Suzanne enjoyed maintaining her flowers and the mini gardens she had at their house in Monroe. Her three grandchildren were the light of her eyes; she would light up whenever any of them were around. Friday’s were always special as she and Larry would pick them up after school and go for a treat and visit a special place, perhaps an educational adventure or just somewhere to play.
She suffered a debilitating stroke in March of this year, but kept fighting against those issues before succumbing to complications on May 8, 2018 with her husband and son at her side.
Suzanne was preceded in death by her father in 1960 and is survived by her husband of 52 years, Larry; her mother, Mabel (101); her brother Steven Charles Neisinger and his wife Twila; her son, Christopher Matthew Imbeau and his wife Karen; and her grandchildren Collin Matthew, Sophie Ann, and Elise Marie.
Suzanne believed in supporting the Brown Bag Brigade through the Monroe UCC church and the Human Rights Campaign in support of LGBTQ community; donations to those, or similar organizations would be greatly appreciated.
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