Born Susan Jo Kiel, August 9, 1941 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, died February 29, 2024 in Mason, Michigan. She was the eldest child of Donald and Mabel Kiel and the wife of George Graeber for nearly sixty years. She is survived by her husband and by her sister Kathleen (James) Mullet of Maricopa, AZ, and by her brother Gregg (Molly) Kiel of Grand Haven, MI and by her sibling’s children and grandchildren. Her husband’s family were greatly attached to their sister-in-law and Aunt Sue, as well: George’s sister, Nancy Spoto, in Florida, his brothers Buz (Terrie) and Jim (Toni) in Grand Rapids, and his brother Frank (Karen) in Arizona, and all their children and grandchildren.
Susan attended public schools in Wyoming, MI and, in 1963, was graduated from Michigan State University with a BA in art. She earned her Master’s degree in art from MSU in 1970. Sue taught elementary school art in the public schools of Michigan for 34 years: one year in Grand Rapids, four years in Flint, and 29 years in East Lansing, until her retirement in 1997. In all those years, Sue was greatly esteemed by her colleagues and by her students and their parents.
In retirement, Sue enjoyed traveling to places like Hawai’i, Arizona, Yosemite, as well as to the European continent, England and Scotland, the Caribbean, and Japan, but she found special joy in spending her summers at her cottage on the shores of Lake Michigan in the UP.
It was Sue’s wish to be cremated. A memorial gathering will be held this summer. In lieu of flowers, friends who wish to honor her memory may donate to the Iris Horner Memorial Scholarship, to REACH Studio Art Center, to the R. J. Scheiffel Memorial Toy Project, or to the art program in their local public school.
Susan’s unexpected death will be mourned by her family and friends, by her colleagues, and by generations of her former students across Michigan. Those who knew her well will remember her sweetness and kindness, her professionalism and dedication, her artistic eye and judgment, her forgiving nature, and, perhaps most of all, her personal loveliness. She had no enemies. To know her was to love her. She brought beauty into our world.
