LaWanna Rose Sullivan

Born in 1923 in Walla Walla, Wash., LaWanna Susanka was raised in Seattle, where she said the only two seasons were "rain and rain." She went to high school at Holy Names Academy, an all-girl Catholic school, where she was student body president her senior year and class salutatorian at her graduation in 1941.

After high school, Lu worked at Pacific Bell as a telephone operator, helping to pay for nursing school for her two sisters, Shirley and Kathleen. She also leaves a brother Albert Susanka. Lu always remembered the day Pearl Harbor was bombed - all the PacBell operators were called into work because the phones were ringing off the hook.

Lu moved with her family to Southern California and took a job at Ford Motor Company. Barney Sullivan noticed her getting on a bus on her way to work one day and took an immediate interest. When he couldn't get her attention, he told a friend, "Your girlfriend is so snooty - I honked and she didn't even wave." Lu's side of the story was that, "He kept tooting and waving any time he saw me, and I kept trying to ignore him."

But Barney wasn't one to be ignored, and they were married on October 16, 1948. Barney and Lu were blessed with nine children, many of them quite "busy." But Lu always said, "God never gave me two really busy ones in a row." She also had 17 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. She and Barney traveled the world, and she was always looking forward to the next adventure. Her last trip was to the annual Lake Tahoe family vacation four weeks ago. Always active, the last time she water-skied, she was in her 60's.

In 1999, Barney and Lu celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at a party attended by several hundred family members and friends. Lu lost Barney, the love of her life, in 2000.

Lu will be remembered for her love of her family, her faith in God, her "bling-bling," and the bright and colorful clothes she wore. She had an uncanny ability to understand those she loved-knowing just what to say to comfort and support them through good times and bad. She was truly the heart and soul of her family.

A family friend said it best, "God has taken home one of the best ones he ever made."