In honor of this wonderful woman whose life left an indelible impact on those around her, my wife and I have made a contribution to Bondurant Lemonade Stand to fight childhood cancer, namely, Wilms Disease.

Suzy was such a big part of my childhood. Some of my earliest memories are of the Oviatt house in Wausau WI. I believe Chris had a cool rocking horse. And there were parties that went late into the night in the mid-60s. Bob (my dad) and Sid worked at WAOW and partied hard. Joyce (my mom) and Suzy put up with them and wrangled 3 kids each. Wherever we moved, we would always spend time together as families. When Sid died, we became family. So many memories at Pioneer Place and Sun Village. When Suzy married John, we said Bon Voyage and missed the Oviatt-Swenssons. But we heard from Suzy regularly - her letters about life in Kinshasa were funny and wry, making all of the challenges seem like adventures. Throughout those years, wherever they lived, we would get together at least once a year. And I still have a piece of malakite from their years in Africa. During Suzy’s Chicago years, we saw her often. She would take the bus up to spend a weekend enjoying jazz with Mom. We were also graced with her presence, serving as home base as she researched her family history. She and Chris even bought me dinner in San Antonio a few years ago. Over the years, I was lucky enough to spend time “just us” time with Suzy, which was in short supply (Mom jealously guarded her time with Suzy). She always listened, accepted and gave me the benefit of her wisdom. Suzy was a steady presence in my life. She was wise, witty, wry and wonderful. She was strong because she had to be. Life threw many challenges her way and she just kept going. She was humble and talented (I love her book!) and loyal and a true friend all of these years, to both of my parents and to me. I will miss her tremendously. Much love, hugs and tears - Ellen

Pat and I had the privilege of visiting Karen in her home in Georgetown, and we have fond memories of enjoying her special "breakfast cookies." If anyone would like her recipe, I will be glad to share it with you. We have made a donation in her memory to Blueprint Ministries, a ministry in San Antonio that restores homes and hope to families living in sub-standard housing, while sharing Christ's abundant grace and love to the home owners. Patti and Chris have always shared that same abundant love with our family. Chris was also instrumental in teaching our son, Alan, to have a servant heart while leading him in Bible studies and mission trips, and I'm sure his mom instilled that character trait in him.