Suzanne Carol Koglin

Suzanne Carol Koglin nee Dake, age 79, of Lemont, IL; passed away on Sunday, March 1, 2026. Cherished wife of Walter Koglin; beloved mother of Denise Lynn (Thomas) Pruliere and Clint Martin (Katie) Koglin; dearest sister of Barbara Ann Green and Nadine Marie (Bill) Wilder; loving aunt of many nieces and nephews.

Suzanne was the kind of person who didn't just "live" life, but actively crafted it (sometimes out of clay, sometimes out of gingerbread, and sometimes out of snake bones). If you try to categorize her interests you find three main themes: Art, Animals and Volunteering. But even a quick list of highlights runs to two single-spaced pages.

Volunteering wasn't just a hobby for Suzanne; it was her guiding principle. She gleefully threw herself into pursuits that shaped the lives of Wally, Clint, and me. We have early memories of her as one of the original "Picture Ladies" at Gaddis Elementary, building haunted houses, and convincing hundreds of elementary students to hand-embroider a giant Bicentennial Quilt.

Moving to Tinley Park brought new opportunities for volunteer activities: she spent years with the PAWS animal shelter, doing pet therapy visits, and appearing on cable TV spots to promote animal adoption while serving on the local school board.

Volunteering in a variety of capacities for Orland Grasslands Prairie Preservation came next. Wally, Clint and I were along for the ride, often literally, as she learned to do prescribed prairie burns and started the Bird Count. Her prairie work didn’t stop there-- she owned a pair of night vision goggles to hunt down frogs by sound in the dark.

For many years she raised monarch butterfly caterpillars in custom-built boxes designed by Wally before releasing them into the prairie. And if you’ve seen the massive Grasslands mural in the Orland Park Library’s children’s section, you’re looking at a piece of her legacy.

Decades before it was trendy, Suzanne taught herself to decorate cakes, wedding cakes and gingerbread houses. When she finally decided she had done enough, she donated her hundreds of pans and supplies to a woman just starting out.

Then came the pottery. Her fascination with Japanese Raku led her from being a student at Moraine Community College to teaching volunteer workshops at Andrew and Moraine. Her work was often inspired by nature and she frequently donated her work to charity auctions.

If I listed everything, we’d be here for a long time. A few final highlights include: years of intricately painted furniture she made and donated to a nun’s charity, decorated Easter eggs that wound up on Chicago children’s TV shows, snake bone sculptures and, among her last artistic interests, mosaic-tiled bowling balls.

We already miss her never dull, sometimes quirky, and entirely unique personality. Thanks to her, Clint and I could cook by kindergarten, Wally was drafted into more "activities" than he can count, and all of us have lives filled with art, animals, and a deep respect for service.

Suzanne didn't just leave the world better than she found it; she made it significantly more interesting.

Memorial visitation Sunday, March 8th, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Orland Funeral Home, 9900 W. 143rd St. Orland Park, IL. Interment private. For information (708) 460-7500.