Susan E. Mag

1936 - 2015

Susan E. Mag, a Toledo teacher who liked to learn and worked to spark that interest in students as well, died Feb. 16 in Ebeid Hospice Residence, Sylvania. She was 79.

She suffered a brain hemorrhage, but had a bone marrow disorder the last 18 months, her daughter, Erika, said.

Mrs. Mag, a Toledo Public Schools teacher for more than 30 years, retired in the late 1990s from Byrnedale Junior High School.

Her seventh and eighth-grade charges had learning disabilities, some cognitive and some behavioral or emotional. She offered them encouragement, patience, and good cheer along with the day's lessons.

"She enjoyed helping those students," her daughter said. "They needed a little extra teaching and more time emotionally.

"She was a great listener and never judgmental. Easy to talk to and relate to. Her kids would call long after they were gone and tell her what was going on in their lives. She made them feel they mattered, and she cared about them."

Sarah Strong, a longtime friend who also retired as a Toledo teacher, said: "She tried to look for the good in her students and pull out the best qualities in them. She was compassionate and patient."

Mrs. Mag had bachelor's and master's degrees in education from the University of Toledo. Long after, she took creative writing classes there.

On a study tour to California through the Mazza Museum at the University of Findlay, she and Ms. Strong visited the homes and studios of children's-book authors and illustrators. She was a folk dancer through the International Institute of Greater Toledo and traveled to Europe, including several trips to Greece with longtime companion Mario Konidaris.

"She was personable and fun-loving and interested in people and other cultures," her daughter said.

Mrs. Mag had been an officer of the Toledo chapter of the Pan Pacific and Southeast Asia Women's Association. She'd been an officer in the Association of Two Toledos, led for years by her friend Lee Murray, and traveled to Toledo, Spain, with the group.

She liked to paint and draw and took pottery classes. "She was a person who kept growing," Ms. Strong said.

She was born March 10, 1936, to Elizabeth and Clyde Coulter and grew up on Harvard Boulevard in South Toledo, where she attended Harvard School. She was a graduate of Libbey High School. For a woman then, "she said there were only three choices: you could be a nurse, secretary, or teacher," her daughter said. "She was very enthusiastic about learning and exploring ... [and] imparting that to students and encouraging students to pursue education and being part of that process."

Mrs. Mag taught briefly in the Sylvania schools before her first Toledo assignment at Oakdale School.

She was formerly married to the late Arthur Just. She married Andrew Mag on Oct. 24, 1975. He died Jan. 24, 1982.

Surviving are her daughter, Erika Eberly; two grandchildren, and two stepgrandchildren.

Memorial services will begin at 10:30 a.m. today in Toledo Memorial Park. Reeb Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

The family suggests tributes to Ebeid Hospice Residence of Sylvania, the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women at the University of Toledo, or a charity of the donor's choice.

Contact Mark Zaborney at: mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.