Mary Susan Brown

Mary Susan “Susie” Breitenbucher Brown gained her much deserved angel wings on January 22, 2026 after a decade long battle with Myelofibrosis that recently progressed to Acute Myeloid Leukemia. She was 74.

Susie spent her final days gifting her loved ones with her million dollar smile, cute laugh and guiding words. When thinking of Susie, the word sweet is most often the first word to come to mind. Sweet she was, but she was also silently strong. Her gentle presence rested upon a lifelong internal determination and faith.

Susie was born on September 18th, 1951, in Keokuk, Iowa, to Ralph and Colleen O’Brien Breitenbucher and raised in the Catholic faith.

Throughout her early years, Susie excelled in dance, sports and character. She went on to the University of Iowa to study dental hygiene which she practiced and taught for many years. While Susie took teeth seriously with a patient in or out of the chair, her passion was her family and it all started with a boy named Danny Brown who she met at a junior high dance at age 12.

To say Susie and Danny had a once in a lifetime relationship is an understatement. Even at the young age they met, Susie and Danny became one in all ways. They rarely were seen apart and they simply hated when they had to be. Love letters and pictures through the decades show a glimpse of what they shared, but both knew they were “the one” at first glance. On May 26, 1973, they married in their hometown. Danny’s work took them to a couple of stops in the Midwest until a call came that would take them south to a place that would become home.

Susie and Danny moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1978. Chattanooga is where they planted and grew their life around their three children. Susie saw her role as wife and mother as her main profession. Her kids can’t remember a time when they didn’t see their mother supporting them in the bleachers, the audience or simply when needing their mom. If you needed Susie, she was there for you. Perhaps the most beautiful example of her selfless nature was the way she cared for Danny after his dementia diagnosis. She personified her vow of in sickness and in health. Her family was always where she felt most rooted.

Susie is survived by her beloved husband, Danny, children Gina, Tony (Amber), Tim (Liza), grandchildren, Breiten, Sullivan, Evan and Landry and many cherished friends and family.

Funeral arrangements and a celebration of life will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Blood Cancer United. www.bloodcancerunited.org

“Now and forever I will always be with you”

-Carole King