Susanne Rae "Sue" was born in Los Angeles on 16 September 1942 to Gale Ewing and Ruth Ellen (King) Burnham. The family lived on several different army bases while Gale was serving his country after the bombing of Pearl Harbor prompted him to enlist. Sue liked to joke that while they were living in Muskogee, Oklahoma she made her stage debut at just three years old. She was at the movies with her mother one day and she "escaped" and climbed up on the stage. There she made shadow puppets until she was removed by a theater employee. She was also known to serenade the passengers of the troop trains when traveling as a toddler. That career was very short.
Sue's father visited Wyoming with his brother and really liked it so after his discharge, he moved his family to the small town of Lusk when she was five years old. The family had expanded to include a son and after the move to Lusk, they were blessed with two more daughters.
Sue married Warren "Gene" Coleman in 1958 and the two were the parents of two daughters, Cynthia and Gale. Sue graduated at the top of her class from Niobrara County High School in Lusk but was not allowed the honor of walking with her class during graduation or being considered for top scholarships due to a rule that denied such to married students. It would be years before she could further her education but it was a dream she eventually fulfilled. Sue and Gene were united in their love for their daughters but the differences in their personalities and outlooks on life led them to end their marriage when the girls were still young.
Sue married her second husband, Charles "Vic" Sommers and moved to Douglas in 1967. The two had one daughter, Stephanie, before the family moved to the Peterson Ranch outside Glendo in 1969. Sue went back to school after her oldest daughter graduated from high school, studying bookkeeping while also training to work as an EMT on the Glendo Ambulance. When she finished, Sue opened her own traveling bookkeeping business, Susanne's Bookkeeping Service, in 1980. In 1985 she added tax accounting and had bookkeeping clients all around Wyoming and a booming tax preparation business in Douglas before she retired in 2014.
Sue and Vic chose to go their separate ways in 1980 and soon after she met the love of her life, George "Tim" Cross III. The two were married in 1983. He was a construction worker with three children of his own. They spent nearly 30 years together seeing their children grow into adults with families of their own. They went through good times and bad, one of the darkest being the death of Sue's daughter, Gale in 2009. Sue had partially retired when Tim became ill the following year. He was regaining his strength after being hospitalized in 2011 due to a fall when the Lord called him home. Sue fully retired in 2014 and moved to Wheatland, Wyoming where she was living when the angels came to take her home on 24 January 2018.
Sue loved to read and do jigsaw puzzles. It was a rare day when family and friends visited without seeing one in various stages of completion on her puzzle table. Sue loved her family and friends and she was always available to listen when someone needed to talk. She could be counted on for a cup of coffee or some iced tea back in the days when people still stopped by unannounced just because they were in the neighborhood and saw she was home. Those friends and the family who loved her will always remember her ready smile and quick wit.
Sue was preceded in death by her parents, her husbands, and her daughter, Gale. She is survived by her brother, Jon and her sisters, Janice and Dana. She is also survived by the combined family she shared with Tim; daughters Cynthia, Stephanie, and Lea; son, George IV; four grandsons; one granddaughter; three great grandsons; three great granddaughters; and a host of other family and friends who will miss her dearly.
In keeping with her wishes there will be no services. Instead, her family will have a picnic probably in June of 2018 and celebrate her life with food, family, and laughter the way she wanted. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to your favorite charity in her name.
She is not gone to those who carry a piece of her in their hearts.
Sue's father visited Wyoming with his brother and really liked it so after his discharge, he moved his family to the small town of Lusk when she was five years old. The family had expanded to include a son and after the move to Lusk, they were blessed with two more daughters.
Sue married Warren "Gene" Coleman in 1958 and the two were the parents of two daughters, Cynthia and Gale. Sue graduated at the top of her class from Niobrara County High School in Lusk but was not allowed the honor of walking with her class during graduation or being considered for top scholarships due to a rule that denied such to married students. It would be years before she could further her education but it was a dream she eventually fulfilled. Sue and Gene were united in their love for their daughters but the differences in their personalities and outlooks on life led them to end their marriage when the girls were still young.
Sue married her second husband, Charles "Vic" Sommers and moved to Douglas in 1967. The two had one daughter, Stephanie, before the family moved to the Peterson Ranch outside Glendo in 1969. Sue went back to school after her oldest daughter graduated from high school, studying bookkeeping while also training to work as an EMT on the Glendo Ambulance. When she finished, Sue opened her own traveling bookkeeping business, Susanne's Bookkeeping Service, in 1980. In 1985 she added tax accounting and had bookkeeping clients all around Wyoming and a booming tax preparation business in Douglas before she retired in 2014.
Sue and Vic chose to go their separate ways in 1980 and soon after she met the love of her life, George "Tim" Cross III. The two were married in 1983. He was a construction worker with three children of his own. They spent nearly 30 years together seeing their children grow into adults with families of their own. They went through good times and bad, one of the darkest being the death of Sue's daughter, Gale in 2009. Sue had partially retired when Tim became ill the following year. He was regaining his strength after being hospitalized in 2011 due to a fall when the Lord called him home. Sue fully retired in 2014 and moved to Wheatland, Wyoming where she was living when the angels came to take her home on 24 January 2018.
Sue loved to read and do jigsaw puzzles. It was a rare day when family and friends visited without seeing one in various stages of completion on her puzzle table. Sue loved her family and friends and she was always available to listen when someone needed to talk. She could be counted on for a cup of coffee or some iced tea back in the days when people still stopped by unannounced just because they were in the neighborhood and saw she was home. Those friends and the family who loved her will always remember her ready smile and quick wit.
Sue was preceded in death by her parents, her husbands, and her daughter, Gale. She is survived by her brother, Jon and her sisters, Janice and Dana. She is also survived by the combined family she shared with Tim; daughters Cynthia, Stephanie, and Lea; son, George IV; four grandsons; one granddaughter; three great grandsons; three great granddaughters; and a host of other family and friends who will miss her dearly.
In keeping with her wishes there will be no services. Instead, her family will have a picnic probably in June of 2018 and celebrate her life with food, family, and laughter the way she wanted. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to your favorite charity in her name.
She is not gone to those who carry a piece of her in their hearts.
Susanne Rae "Sue" was born in Los Angeles on 16 September 1942 to Gale Ewing and Ruth Ellen (King) Burnham. The family lived on several different army bases while Gale was serving his country after the bombing of Pearl Harbor prompted him to enlist. Sue liked to joke that while they were living in Muskogee, Oklahoma she made her stage debut at just three years old. She was at the movies with her mother one day and she "escaped" and climbed up on the stage. There she made shadow puppets until she was removed by a theater employee. She was also known to serenade the passengers of the troop trains when traveling as a toddler. That career was very short.
Sue's father visited Wyoming with his brother and really liked it so after his discharge, he moved his family to the small town of Lusk when she was five years old. The family had expanded to include a son and after the move to Lusk, they were blessed with two more daughters.
Sue married Warren "Gene" Coleman in 1958 and the two were the parents of two daughters, Cynthia and Gale. Sue graduated at the top of her class from Niobrara County High School in Lusk but was not allowed the honor of walking with her class during graduation or being considered for top scholarships due to a rule that denied such to married students. It would be years before she could further her education but it was a dream she eventually fulfilled. Sue and Gene were united in their love for their daughters but the differences in their personalities and outlooks on life led them to end their marriage when the girls were still young.
Sue married her second husband, Charles "Vic" Sommers and moved to Douglas in 1967. The two had one daughter, Stephanie, before the family moved to the Peterson Ranch outside Glendo in 1969. Sue went back to school after her oldest daughter graduated from high school, studying bookkeeping while also training to work as an EMT on the Glendo Ambulance. When she finished, Sue opened her own traveling bookkeeping business, Susanne's Bookkeeping Service, in 1980. In 1985 she added tax accounting and had bookkeeping clients all around Wyoming and a booming tax preparation business in Douglas before she retired in 2014.
Sue and Vic chose to go their separate ways in 1980 and soon after she met the love of her life, George "Tim" Cross III. The two were married in 1983. He was a construction worker with three children of his own. They spent nearly 30 years together seeing their children grow into adults with families of their own. They went through good times and bad, one of the darkest being the death of Sue's daughter, Gale in 2009. Sue had partially retired when Tim became ill the following year. He was regaining his strength after being hospitalized in 2011 due to a fall when the Lord called him home. Sue fully retired in 2014 and moved to Wheatland, Wyoming where she was living when the angels came to take her home on 24 January 2018.
Sue loved to read and do jigsaw puzzles. It was a rare day when family and friends visited without seeing one in various stages of completion on her puzzle table. Sue loved her family and friends and she was always available to listen when someone needed to talk. She could be counted on for a cup of coffee or some iced tea back in the days when people still stopped by unannounced just because they were in the neighborhood and saw she was home. Those friends and the family who loved her will always remember her ready smile and quick wit.
Sue was preceded in death by her parents, her husbands, and her daughter, Gale. She is survived by her brother, Jon and her sisters, Janice and Dana. She is also survived by the combined family she shared with Tim; daughters Cynthia, Stephanie, and Lea; son, George IV; four grandsons; one granddaughter; three great grandsons; three great granddaughters; and a host of other family and friends who will miss her dearly.
In keeping with her wishes there will be no services. Instead, her family will have a picnic probably in June of 2018 and celebrate her life with food, family, and laughter the way she wanted. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to your favorite charity in her name.
She is not gone to those who carry a piece of her in their hearts.
Sue's father visited Wyoming with his brother and really liked it so after his discharge, he moved his family to the small town of Lusk when she was five years old. The family had expanded to include a son and after the move to Lusk, they were blessed with two more daughters.
Sue married Warren "Gene" Coleman in 1958 and the two were the parents of two daughters, Cynthia and Gale. Sue graduated at the top of her class from Niobrara County High School in Lusk but was not allowed the honor of walking with her class during graduation or being considered for top scholarships due to a rule that denied such to married students. It would be years before she could further her education but it was a dream she eventually fulfilled. Sue and Gene were united in their love for their daughters but the differences in their personalities and outlooks on life led them to end their marriage when the girls were still young.
Sue married her second husband, Charles "Vic" Sommers and moved to Douglas in 1967. The two had one daughter, Stephanie, before the family moved to the Peterson Ranch outside Glendo in 1969. Sue went back to school after her oldest daughter graduated from high school, studying bookkeeping while also training to work as an EMT on the Glendo Ambulance. When she finished, Sue opened her own traveling bookkeeping business, Susanne's Bookkeeping Service, in 1980. In 1985 she added tax accounting and had bookkeeping clients all around Wyoming and a booming tax preparation business in Douglas before she retired in 2014.
Sue and Vic chose to go their separate ways in 1980 and soon after she met the love of her life, George "Tim" Cross III. The two were married in 1983. He was a construction worker with three children of his own. They spent nearly 30 years together seeing their children grow into adults with families of their own. They went through good times and bad, one of the darkest being the death of Sue's daughter, Gale in 2009. Sue had partially retired when Tim became ill the following year. He was regaining his strength after being hospitalized in 2011 due to a fall when the Lord called him home. Sue fully retired in 2014 and moved to Wheatland, Wyoming where she was living when the angels came to take her home on 24 January 2018.
Sue loved to read and do jigsaw puzzles. It was a rare day when family and friends visited without seeing one in various stages of completion on her puzzle table. Sue loved her family and friends and she was always available to listen when someone needed to talk. She could be counted on for a cup of coffee or some iced tea back in the days when people still stopped by unannounced just because they were in the neighborhood and saw she was home. Those friends and the family who loved her will always remember her ready smile and quick wit.
Sue was preceded in death by her parents, her husbands, and her daughter, Gale. She is survived by her brother, Jon and her sisters, Janice and Dana. She is also survived by the combined family she shared with Tim; daughters Cynthia, Stephanie, and Lea; son, George IV; four grandsons; one granddaughter; three great grandsons; three great granddaughters; and a host of other family and friends who will miss her dearly.
In keeping with her wishes there will be no services. Instead, her family will have a picnic probably in June of 2018 and celebrate her life with food, family, and laughter the way she wanted. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to your favorite charity in her name.
She is not gone to those who carry a piece of her in their hearts.
Gravesite Details
Sue and Tim enjoyed fishing up in the mountains so some of their ashes will be scattered near a favorite fishing/camping/picnicking spot. The remainder will be buried in the Douglas Cemetery at a later date.
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