A native of the Pacific Northwest, Susan was born in Portland, Oregon. After graduating from Marshall HS, she attended Mt. Hood Community College, and after two years transferred to University of Oregon where she received her BA in Theatre Arts and secondary certification in Language Arts and Theatre Arts in 1987. She landed her first teaching job in Salem, Oregon where she taught Theatre and English for five years. While in Salem, she attended Western Oregon State University for her MS in Education. 
    Feeling a little burned out being a theatre department of one, Susan moved to Longview in 1992 where she taught English at Mark Morris HS for 12 years. In 2004, she moved to RA Long and taught English until the death of her wonderful friend Dana Brown in 2007. When Dana died, Susan took over the Mainstage Theatre program (Longview School District's shared program for MM and RAL) where she taught until she retired in 2024. She continues to substitute in the district. 
Personal Life
     Growing up, Susan's parents emphasized the importance of education, especially as a way to open doors and create opportunities. Both of her parents graduated from high school, but didn't have the chance to pursue education right after high school. It was very important to both of them that Susan and her older sister Sandy go to college. 
      Susan met her husband John in Longview in 1993. They married in 1996.   John and Susan love playing mini golf and seeing movies and plays. Susan volunteers with the Friends of the Longview Library, Stageworks NW, and is secretary/treasurer for The Broad Strokes Project (Longview's mural project).