Susan Love

Sue graduated from Mott Community College and served Michigan’s youth with her work supporting the mission of Catholic Charities at a residential home for teens. She toiled with the unseen and underappreciated work of managing case files and compliance records to keep the home licensed as a critical safety net for at-risk youth. In her retirement, Sue was a valued volunteer with the McLaren Auxiliary. From her post in the gift shop, she delighted in knowing the preferred candy choice of the hospital staff who adored her. They would visit and check on her during her hospital stays as a member of their own family.

Sue was the third child in a large and lively Irish Catholic family with 5 siblings. She will be missed dearly by her sisters Mary Meeker (Ronald) of Flint, MI and Patricia Slotnick (Marc, deceased) of Plymouth, MI, her brother Richard Daly (Debra) of Kennesaw, GA, and many loving cousins, nieces, and nephews. Sue is preceded in death by her parents Cecille (Doherty) and John Daly of West Bloomfield, MI and her brothers Michael Daly (Roxana) of Flint, MI and John Daly of Pontiac, MI.

Sue only followed rules she thought were important enough to follow. She wore mascara and ratted her hair into a bouffant in her Catholic high school and paid the price with many Hail Marys. She laughed with a wheeze when something was really funny and cried easily at commercials or when she was frustrated with life’s baloney. She really cared about her hair and was genuinely mad if you did not notice her new haircut or color. Sue hated cleaning house but loved her flower gardens and house plants. She was most happy sitting on her deck drinking iced tea looking at her hard work in bloom (and secretly spying on her neighbors).

Sue was feisty and would tell you off if you crossed her. She harnessed this natural gift to be a guard dog for her sweet daughter, Jennifer Lynn. Jenny requires extra care and when she was moved into a nursing home, Sue was a constant presence joining her daughter for meals, activities, and to make bracelets together. Because the universe rewards love with love, Susan spent her final hospice days in the nursing home room directly next to her daughter, Jenny. In Sue’s final hours, the nursing home staff filed into her room to pay their respects to a devoted mother and her lifelong care for her daughter.

Sue is survived by her former husband, Ivan Love, Jr (Eleanor) of Holt, MI. Together they learned to coparent their daughters, and Ivan’s generosity, and support were exemplary. Sue is also survived by her oldest daughter, Kimberly Love (Ted Topolewski) of Silver Spring, MD who inherited her mother’s blue-gray eyes, her fighting spirit, her green thumb, her infatuation with ice cream, and her meatloaf recipe (not available upon request; it’s secret). Sue taught Kim to Disco dance (the Bump!), to love animals, and above all else to protect her sister, Jenny.

Susan adored her grandson, Theodore Flint Topolewski, and was proud to be his “GrammaSue.” She taught his frazzled Mom, Kim, how to wrap a swaddle so tight he couldn’t karate chop his newborn way out of it. GrammaSue attended every play and musical, sat in the front row for Theo’s Eagle Scout ceremony, and beamed with pride and pure love at the mention of his name. Theo’s final gift to his GrammaSue was an acapella rendition of Ava Maria at her bedside. Theo loved his GrammaSue dearly and she holds a special place in his heart as the grandparent most likely to win in a street fight.

Life’s success is measured in the work done without recognition. Sue rocked two colicky babies to sleep, side-by-side, in the dark of a Michigan winter. She tended an aloe plant that is 40 years old and nearly 4 feet tall. She was an open door in the neighborhood for kids who needed an adult they could trust or a popsicle. Sue was a grandparent MVP, earned a medal of honor in special needs parenting, and left her mark in a thousand blooms.

A celebration of Susan’s life will be held Saturday, May 10, 2025 at Hill Funeral Home 11723 S. Saginaw St. Grand Blanc, Michigan 48439 . The family asks that you consider a charitable donation to the American Heart Association (heart.org) in lieu of flowers.