When she was 19 years old, Susan experienced deep grief for the first time when a friend died suddenly in a plane crash. This event motivated her to explore philosophical questions around pain, suffering and death.  Conversations with college professors, clergy and other trusted guides over several decades set her on an intellectual journey.

Susan’s intellectual journey became an experiential journey as she cared for her parents through their physical demise and deaths and supported friends through the loss of loved ones. Since 2010, she has been a member of the Voices of Love, a Threshold choir which sings for people on the threshold of life and death. Taken together, all of these encounters revealed two things: a desire to be present with others as they confront mortality AND a deeper awareness of the greatest joys of her life. 

After a fulfilling, thirty-five-year career as a professional fundraiser in a variety of non-profit organizations, Susan trained with the Conscious Dying Collective to be a personal coach, specifically to accompany others in their own contemplation of these deep questions. Her particular interest is in working with individuals to discern the most meaningful actions they want to take to deepen joy in their lives, using contemplation of their own death as a precise tool to focus the exploration.  Her training includes working with clients of all or no faith traditions.

Susan is a lifelong choral singer, participating in school, church and community choirs. In addition to singing, Susan’s greatest joys include being with her husband and family, digging in the garden, entertaining friends, practicing yoga, traveling, and reading great fiction.