Susan Shapiro

August 5, 1941 - October 18, 2024 Susan (Sue) Shapiro, a resident of Los Angeles (Cerritos, Tarzana, and Woodland Hills) for over 50 years was born on August 5, 1941 and died at age 83 on October 18, 2024.
Sue was an amazing woman, extraordinary friend, sister, aunt, grandmother, niece, and a loving and dedicated mother to her three daughters. She was an adventurous, selfless, committed, tattooed, heavy metal loving, avid reader, volunteer, culturally and spiritually Jewish, brilliant, concert going "character." Sue was a daily reader of the LA Times, her main source for news and announcements of all types of events, including musical, cultural, movies, and museum exhibits.
Sue was born and raised in Chicago. She received her BA in teaching from the University of Chicago, married her high school sweetheart and put him through medical school. Sue called California her home, where she moved when she was pregnant with her first daughter, Cindy. Here, she had her second daughter, Arlene. The family spent a few years in Texas where her third daughter Melissa was born.
After her return to California (Cerritos), she became a single parent and to support her daughters she worked office jobs before returning to teaching. While working, Sue received her master's degree from Pepperdine University. She finished her teaching career at Montara Elementary.
Sue provided her daughters with a busy childhood, filled with adventure, music, theater, museums, art, reading, concerts, volunteering, dancing, singing, sports, freedom and supported their interests in any activity from education to school band to baton. Sue was everyone's biggest cheerleader. She instilled in her daughters a sense of community and commitment to important political and personal issues, both by her activities and her financial support, at times working multiple jobs to guarantee her daughters received everything they wanted or needed; maintained close relationships with relatives near and far so her daughters were raised with a strong sense of family which included her friends.
Sue accomplished too many things to name, some of the highlights being: running the Olympic torch, and volunteering in soup kitchens, libraries, thrift stores, theaters, hospitals, schools, polling places, political events, essentially anything worthy of her time and commitment. She travelled extensively, both internationally (from Iceland to Cuba to Peru to Abu Dhabi) and domestically.
Sue retired early and became busier than ever, increasing her volunteer work, travels and expanding her schedule to include card groups, scrabble games, senior choir, and college courses.
When her daughter Melissa and husband Randy Kaplan gifted the family with her first grandson, Ryan, Sue moved to Tarzana to become his babysitter, exposing him to culture, many activities and adventures. Then Mason, Sue's second grandson, was born. She supported and encouraged both boys in everything they did including Ryan's drumming and love of music and Mason's baseball and love of reading. These boys were her pride and joy, and they in turn loved their "cool" grandma.
Sue was an incredible woman, who put others before herself and made endless sacrifices for the people and ideals she loved and cherished. She was one-of-a-kind and will be endlessly missed by everyone she touched and welcomed into her ever-expanding circle of love. She will be especially missed by her daughters and grandsons, who all hope they can live up to the examples she set.
Sue made friends everywhere she went and with everyone she met. Her friends were her family, and her family were her friends. She never forgot a birthday or an anniversary, and she connected people in ways they didn't even realize.
Sue raised three strong, independent, compassionate, wise women who chose partners, friends and life paths consistent with their strengths and morals. This was her calling, and she did it by herself and with graceful success she worked endlessly to perfect. Her legacy of giving, dedication and love continues through her daughters.
Sue was predeceased by her parents, Rose and Leonard Fuchs and the many friends who passed on before her. She is survived by her extraordinary sisters, Judith Jacobson (Robert) and Betsy Fuchs, cousins Pat Shaw and Sandra Lawson Napier, nephew Adam Jacobson (Jing Hu), great nephew Jon Hu-Jacobson, and daughters Cindy (Alexx Van Dyne of beloved memory), Arlene (Will Hair) and Melissa (Randy Kaplan), cherished nephews Ryan and Mason, and the numerous friends she adopted along her adventurous life path.
In her memory, donations can be made to BreakthroughT1D (juvenile diabetes) or National Council for Jewish Women.