Susanne Stern

Susanne was born in Vienna, Austria and in her early years was surrounded by a large extended family. As a young child her greatest pleasures came from the regular gatherings with her parents and beloved aunts and uncles in a beautiful mountain lake region known as Lake Altaussee. Due to the political unrest, at age 8 she and her parents fled Europe and secured passage to Jamaica, West Indies where she resided until she became a young adult. It was in tropical Kingston with its wild beauty and warm inviting waters that she learned to swim. Swimming was freedom and served as the connection to future important relationships later in life. While in Jamaica she attended Alpha Academy for Girls and established cherished and life-long friendships.

In her late teens her parents encouraged her to explore further opportunities, so in 1949 she moved to NYC to live in The Clara de Hirsch Residence for Women. During the day she worked as a secretary. In the evening she escaped to the Old Metropolitan Opera House and regularly secured standing room balcony tickets; from that perch she would whisper-sing from her opera librettos. No doubt her day job inspired her birdsong at night, and the opera served as a familiar echo of Vienna. Following several years of moving between NY and Jamaica, Susanne eventually reunited with earlier connections from Europe including Liesel whom had fled to Panama (with whom she would eventually share an apartment), and that mysterious and dashing engineering student in the trench-coat, Paul Stern whom she married in 1953.

Shortly after their wedding, Paul was recruited by Boeing and in 1954 they packed their suitcases and drove sight unseen to Seattle. Upon seeing the sparking waters of Lake Washington surrounded by mountain peaks in all directions, they knew they had made the right decision.

Susanne raised two children, very different from one another but they complemented Susanne and Paul’s separate and distinct characteristics. When the kids entered school, she returned to secretarial work. In the mid-1970’s she began pursuing her life-long dream to travel, and began work as a travel agent, always strategizing and looking forward to her next “fam-trip”.

In retirement she met kindred spirits in her two passions, writing classes and water aerobics; she cherished these friends and they remained in close contact through the remainder of her life.

Susanne was a free spirit and not beholden to convention; her longtime interests in astrology and psychology never ceased to amaze her engineer husband. Her genuine warmth, caring for others and interest in their unique stories was her hallmark. She will be remembered for her gorgeous smile, her revulsion for cooking, her captivating photography, sensual writing and outstanding sense of humor. She is survived by her devoted friends, son and daughter.

A private celebration of life will be held in the coming weeks. In lieu of flowers, Mom would have asked you to consider donating to PAWS.