Susan M. Allen

Susan Maahs Allen, 66, passed away quietly on December 10, 2020, at her home in Gilbert, AZ. She was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, already in stage 4, and became paralyzed from the chest down this past spring. Nevertheless, she never gave up and fought a determined battle for the better part of a year, before passing away peacefully in her sleep.

After growing up in Hartford, WI, she went to the University of Wisconsin, where she earned a Bachelor of Science - Nursing in 1976, and also met her future husband Michael Allen. They lived in Boston for a few years, while she worked as a nurse and Michael went to law school. In 1979, they moved again, and both worked in New York City. She started working in the medical insurance industry and earned her MBA there. In 1992, four years after the birth of their daughter Kathryn, they moved to Arizona.

In addition to being a loving wife and mother, Susan also cared for her parents as they aged, while they lived in Wisconsin and after they moved to Arizona. She was involved in community organizations and St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, and loved her dogs, knitting and going places (particularly San Diego in the summer). Less than two weeks before she passed, she fulfilled one more item on her bucket list by going to see Las Noches de las Luminarias at the Desert Botanical Gardens. She is survived by her husband Michael, her daughter Kathryn, one sister, Sally Maahs, and nephews Scott Kwaterski, Stephen Kwaterski, and Jonathan Rix.

Because of the Covid pandemic, the memorial service and interment will be attended only by immediate family. The service will take place at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Chandler, AZ, and the interment will take place immediately thereafter in the Church's Memorial Garden. The service will be on January 9, 2021, at 11 am, and is expected to be streamed live on the Church's Facebook page and/or YouTube site. You may go to the Church's website at www.saintmatthewschurch.org, which has links to both locations. In lieu of flowers, memorials are requested to go to St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Memorial Garden Fund, P.O. Box 1959, Chandler, AZ 85244. Those who want to leave condolence messages or memories can visit www.dignitymemorial.com and click on her obituary there.