Susan Phillips Duncan

Susan Phillips Duncan was born in Tucson, Arizona on November 10, 1943 to Richard Lee Olcott (1922-1951) and Vera Jean Olcott (nee Summers) (1923-2004). Her father was a flight instructor for the Army Air Corp during World War II. He was later shot down and killed in the Korean War. Her mother later remarried Richard Phillips (1925-2015) in 1955, who adopted Susie and her younger sister, Deborah

Susie grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana and graduated from South Side High School in 1962 before earning a BA in education from Indiana University in 1965. She married Robert Duncan that same year. She taught first grade in New Haven, Connecticut (1967-1969) while Bob was in graduate school at Yale. Those were lean years, and she became especially skilled at finding creative ways to cook Spam. Their two children, Stephanie (1969), and Christopher (1970), were both born in New Haven. Stephanie has been a leader in the carly childhood field as a director and teacher for over 30 years in Lawrence, Kansas while Christopher and his wife Pamela McElwee are professors at Rutgers University in New Jersey. They are parents of Susie's granddaughter Riley (2015).

After New Haven, Susie and Bob spent most of their life (1970-2001) in the Evanston, Illinois area where Bob was on the faculty of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. While there, Susie was involved in a variety of nonprofit organizations. She was on the board of BUILD, a gang intervention, violence prevention, and youth development organization in Chicago. She was on the board of Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, which reflected her interests in global issues. She was president of the Junior league in Evanston, Illinois. She also worked with unwed mothers groups. However, the one she enjoyed the most was being on the board of the Block Art Gallery at Northwestern.

When Susie and Bob decided to leave Northwestern in 2001 there was an outpouring of both sorrow and gratitude as she was dearly loved by everyone on campus for her contributions. Her smile and outgoing personality could charm anyone. Bob often said with a smile "they clearly loved her and I hope they liked me."

However, Susie quickly learned to love Michigan when Bob became dean of Broad College of Business at Michigan State in 2002.The transition was easy. Susie loved basketball and loved to sail on Lake Michigan in their various sailboats. After moving to Michigan, they eventually gave up the boats and began spending their summers in Harbor Springs. Susie strongly believed it was heaven on earth - especially those long walks on the beach. Susie quickly developed close friends in Michigan and came to call it home. Northwestern tried to get them to come back several times. Susie was always the first one to say no Michigan is our home now.

She loved to travel the world. Her favorite destination was London, with Switzerland a close second They spent many summers in the latter while Bob taught in a Northwestern program in Lucerne. One story they often shared captures Susie's sense of adventure. On one trip, Susie and Bob were riding their motorbikes through a valley when they came across a group of people assembling gliders in a field Despite the language barrier, Susie decided they should help. At one point, the Swiss gestured toward the sky, clearly asking if they wanted to go up. Without hesitation - and much to Bob's chagrin - Susie eagerly said yes. Before long, the two of them were soaring through the Swiss Alps in two-person gliders with complete strangers, carried along by both the mountain air and Susie's fearless enthusiasm.

Susie was a cheerful and optimistic person who always tried to see the positive in life. She approached challenges with a simple, determined attitude: do what needs to be done and face whatever comes your way. This was best reflected in how she dealt with her long battle with Alzheimer's. She never complained or engaged in self-pity. Instead, she remained grateful that her children and grandchild were all healthy and thriving. She faced her illness with remarkable strength and quiet courage until the very end. For Bob his is a double loss. She was not only the woman he loved but also his best friend

The family is profoundly grateful to the medical, nursing, and caregiver staff at Burcham Hills East Lansing, Michigan. They not only provided exceptional medical care but were also deeply concerned with Susie's quality of life during her long snuffle. Heart to Heart Hospice, East Lansing also provided additional nursing care and especially emotional support for the family.

Susie is survived by her husband, Robert Duncan, and her children Stephanie Duncan and Christopher (Pamela) Duncan. She was loving grandmother to Riley Duncan. Susie is also survived by her younger siblings, her sister Deborah Lehman and her brother Richard Phillips, Jr., her brother-in-law David Lehman, her sister-in-law Penney Phillips, and many nieces, nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews.

A celebration of life will be held at Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, 1730 E Grand River Ave., East Lansing, MI 48823, on September 19, 2026 at 1 PM.

In loving memory of Susan, memorial donations can be directed to: Heart to Heart Hospice Foundation, 2260 E. Saginaw Street, East Lansing, MI 48823 (please find link below).