Stephanie Suzanne Nielsen

Stephanie Suzanne (Schepers) Nielsen, age 71, passed away on October 1, 2025, at her home near West Lafayette, IN with her husband and children at her side. She was born October 25, 1953, in Grand Island, NE to Stuart and Adelia (Meyer) Schepers. She was baptized and confirmed in St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Shelton, NE. Suzanne grew up on the family farm north of Shelton, NE, attended grades K-4 in a near-by rural one-room schoolhouse, then completed grade school and high school at Shelton Public School. An active 4-H member during grade school and high school, she later participated in international youth exchange programs in Finland and Poland. Suzanne obtained her B.S. degree in Food Science at the Univ. of Nebraska in Lincoln, where she also met her eventual husband, Bob Nielsen. They were married June 19, 1977, at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Shelton, NE. Later that summer Suzanne and Bob moved to St. Paul, MN to pursue graduate degrees in Food Science (Suzanne) and Plant Breeding (Bob) at the Univ. of Minnesota. After obtaining their Ph.D. degrees, they moved to West Lafayette, IN, in August 1982 where they began their academic careers at Purdue Univ. Suzanne was among the first faculty members hired into the newly created Food Science Department in 1983 where she spent the rest of her 39+ year career at Purdue, including 10 years as department head. She served as the first leader of Purdue's Women in Agriculture Faculty group (1997-2002) that encouraged informal mentoring of women faculty and thus the success of women faculty. In her later years, she spent part of her time as deputy director, then director of USAID's Feed the Future Food Processing Innovation Laboratory and as a Faculty Fellow in the Office of Corporate and Global Partnerships. Early in her career, Suzanne was actively involved with research and mentored over 30 M.S. and/or Ph.D. graduate students. However, she was best known for her teaching passion, especially in the subject area of "Food Analysis". In 1990, with no suitable textbook available for this required class in the Food Science curriculum, Suzanne created a Food Analysis textbook (and later a lab manual), bringing together chapters written by experts from across the country and carefully editing them into a clearly written, comprehensive textbook for students. Now in its 6th edition, "Nielsen's Food Analysis" is used in college academic curriculums throughout the U.S. and many other countries and has been translated into several languages. Suzanne received teaching awards at the department, college, university, and national levels, including the Helen B. Schleman Award for Advancement of Women (2009), Charles B. Murphy Award for Teaching (2014), and the USDA National Excellence in College and University Teaching Award (2017). In 2018, she was added to Purdue's "Book of Great Teachers" and was named one of Purdue's inaugural 150th Anniversary Professors, based on her long-time excellence in teaching. She received numerous other research and international awards from Purdue's College of Agriculture, including the Agricultural Research Award in 1997 (first-ever woman recipient) and the Lowell Hardin Award for International Agriculture (2020). She also received outstanding alumni awards from the Univ. of Nebraska (2005) and the Univ. of Minnesota (2001). Suzanne was active in her professional society Institute of Food Technology (IFT) and the national Food Science honorary society Phi Tau Sigma and served in numerous leadership and service positions. For over 25 years, Suzanne interacted with and assisted the Food Science & Technology program at Zamorano University in Honduras. In the 1990s, she facilitated an internship program in Food Science at Purdue that has since attracted over 100 students from Zamorano over the years, with many returning to Purdue to complete their graduate degrees. Family was central to Suzanne's life. She and Bob raised two children, encouraging their love of learning, travel, and sports. She treasured every moment with her children, including attending their numerous soccer games and tennis matches. She loved seeing them happy and excel throughout their childhood and during their careers. She delighted in her grandchildren and cherished her six godchildren. Suzanne and Bob had the great privilege of traveling, both work-related and personal, to many countries around the world on their own, with their kids, or with family friends. The kids always say those early international trips instilled in them a love of traveling and learning about the world. Suzanne was an active member of Our Saviour Lutheran Church in West Lafayette for over 40 years and greatly valued the many friends from there. She enjoyed playing cards, road trips with family friends, sewing, creating Shutterfly photo memory books, baking (especially banana bread with chocolate chips), and hosting large holiday meals with family friends. Suzanne is survived by her husband Bob, a daughter Kirsti Suzanne (Aaron) Pearsall of Grand Rapids, MI; a son Eric Robert (Carly) of Waxhaw, NC; and beloved grandchildren Sophia Sheila Nielsen and Beckham Rainn Pearsall. Also surviving are two brothers and two sisters: James (Marilyn) Schepers, Kendra (Ron) Vance, and Mary Jean (Bob) Kempf of Nebraska, and Ken (Lily) Schepers of Ohio. Suzanne was preceded in death by her parents, Stuart and Adelia Schepers. A visitation, with the family present, will be held Friday, October 31, 2025, from noon to 2:00 p.m. (ET) at Tippecanoe Memory Gardens Funeral Chapel (3631 Morehouse Road, West Lafayette, IN). A Celebration of Life service will be held Saturday, November 1, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. (ET) at Our Saviour Lutheran Church in West Lafayette, IN (300 W Fowler Ave.) with Pastor Randy Schroeder officiating. Parking may be limited at the church. Overflow parking will be available nearby. A memorial slideshow and prelude music will begin 30 minutes before the start of the service. All are welcome to attend. The Celebration of Life service will also be livestreamed to YouTube [https://youtube.com/live/Kc2yCi21RKo]. A private inurnment service will be held at the cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages memorial contributions be made online to one of the following four endowment funds that support Food Science students at Purdue University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Purdue University Department of Food Science, College of Agriculture: https://connect.purdue.edu/INMEMORYOFSUZANNENIELSEN 1. S. Suzanne Nielsen Scholarship Endowment (undergraduate scholarships) 2. Suzanne Nielsen Food Science Student Support Endowment Fund (undergraduate and/or graduate student support for activities and educational expenses) 3. Zamorano Student Internship Endowment in Food Science (support for short-term visiting scholars from Zamorano Univ. in Honduras) University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Food Science, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources: https://nufoundation.org/fund/01158380 4. S. Suzanne Nielsen Food Science & Technology Scholarship Fund (undergraduate scholarships) To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Stephanie, please visit our floral store.