Susanna Wilson "Susie" Epler

1947 - 2023

Anacortes - Susanna Wilson Epler passed away peacefully at home in Anacortes on January 22, 2023. She was surrounded by her husband, Bill Epler, two daughters, Jennifer Epler and Melanie Glock, and two Siamese cats, Gubby and Matisse. She is also survived by her son-in-law, Dave Glock, her exuberantly beloved grandchildren, Julia, Maisie, and Tate Glock, Jennifer's partner, Mario Alcantar, and Mario's son Sol, whom she claimed as an honorary grandchild.

Susanna-or Susie, as her family knew her-was born in Seattle on May 11, 1947 to Frank M. Jr. (d. 2007) and Anna Lyle Wilson (d. 2011). The oldest of six, her siblings are Frank M. III (d. 1969), David Wilson, Janice Jones, Judy McCrary, and Rebecca Wilson. With a father from Yakima and a mother from Atlanta, Susie had lifelong ties to the northwest and southeast USA. The Wilson kids grew up in Marietta, GA but frequently visited their grandparents at "Wilson Willage" in Yakima. These were some of Susie's happiest memories.

She earned a BA in Zoology from Agnes Scott College and an MS in Ecology from the University of Georgia. Almost immediately after receiving her Master's, Susie married Bill on December 27, 1970. Jennifer was born in 1973 and Melanie in 1975. In 1974, the family settled in Redmond, WA after Bill got a job at Boeing.

Susie adored her extended family, including her sister-in-law Beverly Wilson, nephews Eric Barkley, William Jones, John Barkley, Bobby Jones, and niece Alison Vick, plus all her nephews' and niece's spouses and children. With sisters, daughters, and this southeastern crew, she spent many lively vacations at Holden Beach, NC. Never wanting to miss out on any fun, Susie pushed her waking hours to go bird watching in the early morning, to ride bikes and play on the beach by day, and to perform silly dances and songs late at night. Adventures like these were captured in a family newsletter called Auntecdotes, which she printed for years.

When not gravitating to the center of hilarity, Susanna cherished quiet times in Nature. She loved sailing around the Salish Sea with Bill and had a special fondness for all kinds of sea animals-and the ocean in general. She loved watching the snow fall outside the family's rustic cabin at Denny Creek while thinking of Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Snowflakes."

In her personal and professional life, Susanna was dedicated to teaching children about the natural world. (When you see a slimy or scaly creature, "Don't say 'eww, gross,' say 'oh how interesting!'") Her career spanned jobs at Pine Jog Environmental Education Center, the Seattle Aquarium, the Research Vessel Snow Goose, Discovery Park, and finally her dream job: Science Curriculum Specialist for the Renton School District. There, she created the award-winning Salmon in the Classroom program, wherein fourth graders raised fish from hatchery eggs and released them in the Cedar River Watershed.

Susanna had many friendships that spanned decades. She bonded with her dearest friends over shared pursuits as university students, young mothers, and retirees. Together, they planned their weddings, traded care of preschoolers, hosted tongue-in-cheek fancy luncheons (the Out To Lunch Bunch), attended Sunday matinees at the Seattle Opera, traced their genealogy (Tree Climbers Club), volunteered for Soroptomist, including the thrift store in downtown Anacortes, and created elaborate stained glass windows. Susanna's incredible talent as a stained glass artist emerged in her retirement. Her pieces were always designed with scrupulous attention to biological accuracy and never commissioned for money. They were always created with love for her chosen recipients.

Susie, like her mother, often repurposed the Scottish Lyle family motto, "An I May," as a general exclamation of indomitable spirit. Accordingly, she lived buoyantly, undaunted, for nearly nine years after her initial diagnosis of metastatic cancer. AN I MAY!

She will be widely missed.