Susan Margaret Biehn

February 21, 1941 - February 12, 2026

Susan Margaret Biehn, a visionary executive whose passion for beauty and adventure defined her life, passed away peacefully just before her 85th birthday at the Riverside Premier Rehabilitation and Healing Center in New York City, where she lived and was well cared for these past four years.

Susan was born in Spokane, Washington, to Dr. Roy Curtis and Margaret Hahn Biehn. Each summer, Susan, her parents and two sisters, Kathe and Jennifer, stayed in a rustic log cabin on Hayden Lake in Northern Idaho where they swam in the lake, hiked in the woods, picked huckleberries and pumped water from a well. This experience developed Susan's love for the natural world.

After graduating from the University of Washington in 1964, Susan took a first job as assistant buyer at Frederick and Nelson in Seattle, Washington, before becoming accessories director at Coed Magazine, where she traveled throughout the country.

Susan then made the big leap to New York City, where she attended the Toby-Coburn School for Fashion Careers In Manhattan, which helped launch her highly successful, multi-decade career in cosmetics and fashion. As Senior Vice President of Advertising and Creative Services for Christian Dior Parfums, Susan was a key strategist behind the campaign for the fragrance, Poison, and was responsible for its positioning as a "revolutionary" and "adventurous" product. She acknowledged that the name was intentionally provocative and controversial, designed to make consumers pause.

Later, as Executive Vice President of Public Relations at Lancome, Susan worked closely with Isabella Rosellini, 'the face of Lancome' (1983 - 1996) who exemplified the timeless sophistication of the brand.

Susan's lifelong love affair with the city of New York was expressed through her frequent, meticulously planned tours for visiting friends and family, that often included visits to iconic buildings, renowned museums, trendy restaurants, and, of course, long walks along the East River and in Central Park.

An avid traveler, she enjoyed frequent adventures to Paris, Italy, Portugal, Mexico, and other international destinations. She was preceded in death by her longtime companion, John Fisher, with whom she shared many of these travels.

In a written reflection late in her life, Susan said, "I am my mother's child. I learned the art of decorating from my mother - her love of color and how to enter a room and see its possibilities."

"I am my father's child," she continued. "His love of adventure and travel. I forged on through life with trip after trip around the world with John, one wonderful experience after another."

Susan is survived by two sisters, Kathe Biehn Dobbs of Seattle, Washington, and Jennifer Ann Biehn of Oakland, California.

Other surviving family members include brother-in-law Lary Dobbs of Seattle, sister-in-law Joan Lohman of Oakland, niece Vicki Dobbs Beck of St. Helena, California, nephew Craig Dobbs of Seattle and their spouses, Steve Beck of St. Helena and Kelley Dobbs of Seattle.

Her great nieces and nephew are Katie Dobbs and Emily Dobbs of Brooklyn, New York, and Jackson Melton of Jersey City, New Jersey.


Donations in Susan's memory can be made to the Riverside Park Conservancy www.riversideparkconservancy.org Susan was a longtime supporter of the Conservancy and spent many blissful hours walking in Riverside Park in her elder years.