Susan Fargo

Susan was a proud alumna of Senn High School (class of ’77) where she was on the Honor Roll, National Honor Society, President of the Student Council, and other activities including Garden Club, Gym Leader, Pep Club, and Twirlers Co-Captain.

Upon graduation and with her personality, she worked at several customer service jobs. She later worked at JMB Realty Corporation in the Investor Relations Department. It was there that she met her husband Brian after his company was merged with JMB. They worked on a real estate financing project together, began dating and were married three years later in 1988.

Susan also graduated from Northwestern University - School of Speech – receiving a Bachelor of Philosophy in Communication – Summa Cum Laude (class of ’97) and was inducted into the Alpha Sigma Lambda national honor society.

After college, Susan put her communication skills to work, writing several articles for the Chicago Tribune as well as a script about a famous WWII veteran that had the potential to become a movie. As a thorough researcher, writing this script took her across the country following his path. A Hollywood producer suggested that she break it into a 2 or 3 part series, which had not yet become popular, but her vision was for the big screen.

With a love for wildlife and nature, Susan volunteered in Lincoln Park and became the Board President of the Lincoln Park Conservancy (LPC) where she served for 15 years. Her passion was for North Pond while also having responsibility for the Conservatory and the Alfred Caldwell Lilly Pool. She wrote docent books for tours of the pond’s flora and fauna and led the Earth Day and other volunteer days to improve the beauty. She also assembled a team of experts in the field to devise a plan for the renovation of North Pond, built an operational team, and raised funds. Her plan was used as the starting framework for the recent renovation of the pond by her successors.

Using her creativity, LPC was the first organization to hold a Gala event at the Conservatory and she opened the Alfred Caldwell Lilly Pool for weddings. She held a unique and successful fund-raising event at the North Pond Café where she engaged cast members from Broadway in Chicago’s the Jersey Boys to perform, at no cost to the organization, held a live auction and had VIP tickets whereby a select number of patrons sat in the first couple of rows. After the performance, some of the VIP’s went to Susan’s home and that of another patron of LPC for a catered dinner with the performers arriving to sing several songs at each location.

Susan very much enjoyed planning the annual Galas for LPC along with members who volunteered to assist. Her perfectionism, which sometimes got her into trouble, and her love for music caused her to preview bands for each Gala and, if hired, reviewed their playlist with the band leader. Many times she asked for a change in the order of the music or to add or delete a song from their set, having had much experience enjoying dancing. After one such Gala, the band leader told her that he was going to use her set order for their performances going forward.

As an independent consultant after leaving LPC, Susan was working on bringing a pumpkin festival to Chicago, similar to the annual Great Jack O’ Lantern Blaze, in Sleepy Hollow, NY, which is a Halloween carved pumpkin event. She had completed a lot of the initial work, speaking with an experienced pumpkin carver from Texas who was going to fly in to teach others to carve, had spoken with pumpkin growers in Illinois and Wisconsin as to timing and quantities, had roughed out a budget and was making good progress when the pandemic hit.

Susan enjoyed travelling with her husband to see Castles and museums in Europe, wildlife in the Galapagos Islands, Africa, Alaska, Baja California and Florida, and a trip to Ireland to trace their roots, experience the local culture, old abbeys and churches and to learn to pour a proper Guinness at the brewery. In the Galapagos, among other things, she experienced a sea lion coming out of the water, walking up to her on the beach, and touching his nose to her knee and then flopping by her side to sleep. While on a whale watching tour in Baja California, she excitedly was able to touch several whales from a small boat. Short trips included to Vermont for fall colors and a tour of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory and to Wisconsin for a pumpkin farm, to Sante Fe for its notable art shops as well as many other sites.

She loved her family and friends dearly, enjoyed the Lincoln Park Zoo, especially the Lions, Broadway Musicals, movies and watching television at night with her husband and cat Jesse.

Unfortunately, shortly after that Susan was diagnosed with Early-Onset Alzheimer’s disease, for which there is not yet a cure and which ultimately took her life.

Susan is survived by her beloved husband Brian Fargo; her loving step-children Jamison (Heidi) Fargo and Aaron (Jennifer) Fargo; her grandchildren Paige, Nathaniel, Claire, Eve, Peter, Mattea, Jack, and Lily; her brother Michael (Anne) Peterson; her brother-in-law Dennis (Peggy) Fargo, sisters-in-law Mary Beth (Charlie) Master and Laurie (Jim) Martone; as well as many other loving family and friends; and her beloved cat Jesse. She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother David Peterson; her well-loved cats Junior, Eddy, Buford, Gracie and Molly.

A Visitation for Susan will be held on Monday, March 10 from 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM at Drake and Son Funeral Home, 5303 North Western Avenue, Chicago, IL 60625. A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Tuesday, March 11 at 10 am at Drake and Son Funeral Home, 5303 North Western Avenue, Chicago, IL 60625. A burial will follow at Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago, IL.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to the 2025 Walk to End Alzheimer’s Chicago through Brian’s team: https://act.alz.org/site/TR?fr_id=18567&pg=personal&px=19914422