Susan Gerber Morrell

Susan Gerber Morrell, 61, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, March 24, 2021 surrounded by her loving family after a courageous battle with brain cancer.

A wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, and sister, Susan loved bringing together the people she cared about, capturing special moments in photographs she displayed prominently around her home and office. She was extremely proud of all three of her children and their significant others, always supporting and encouraging them to follow their hearts and dreams. Susan saw the best in everyone she met, lifting the spirits of everyone she talked to with her bright smile and heartfelt laugh, a piece of their favorite candy, or a funny story. She generously gave the perfect gifts while treasuring every gift she was ever given. Ever a pet-lover, Susan loved and cared for her childhood pets, her children’s gerbils, fish, dog and cats, and the pets of all her friends and neighbors that were cared for over the years, embracing their quirks and diverse personalities.

Susan was a wonderful friend and colleague to those who knew her through the church and her career. As a teenager, Susan volunteered at the Racine addiction center where her compassion for others was evident. After graduating with degrees in biology and chemistry from Macalester College, she joined Monsanto as an environmental chemist, where she met her husband. While raising her three wonderful children, Susan switched her ambitions to helping people and churches uncover their talents and purpose: locally as the director of Lay Ministry at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, as the development coordinator for the ELCA Metro Coalition - uniting Saint Louis-area ELCA churches in pursuing growth and mission, and as the Mission Interpreter Coordinator for the ELCA Central States Synod - developing a communications model that all 65 US Synods embraced. When her children were independent, Susan was excited to return to science, rejoining Monsanto/Bayer in roles that leveraged her extraordinary attention to detail and increased the quality, accuracy, and efficiency of the regulatory permit application process, supporting thousands of field trials in the US and Latin America.

Susan was also a talented musician, playing piano, violin, and flute. But her real musical passion and gift was in the art of handbell ringing. As a player, director, or both, of handbell music at four area churches (Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Overland Christian Church, Manchester United Methodist Church, and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church) Susan instilled in her choirs the joy that comes with combining the talents of many into a magnificent whole in celebration of the glory of God.

A cherished gift to all she met, Susan will be missed by many.

Born in Racine, Wisconsin, to Ralph and Mary Haban Gerber, Susan is survived by Jim, her husband of 37 years, children Kim (Mark) Narby, Ginny (Cody) Miller, Tom (Leah) Morrell, sisters Patricia Gerber (Daniel Grimm), Linda (Charlie) Johnson, Jan (John) Kinar, many cousins, nephews, and 3-week-old granddaughter Delaney June Miller whom she fortunately had an opportunity to meet, hold and love before passing.

Services: To ensure that Susan's many loved ones can celebrate her memory safely, the small private family service to be held on Saturday, April 17 at 1:30 p.m. will be streamed online at https://goodshepherdlutheran.com/good-shepherd-live-events/. In lieu of flowers, friends may honor Susan with a commemorative gift to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (https://goodshepherdlutheran.com/) or the Missouri Botanical Garden (https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/). A service of the SCHRADER Funeral Home and Crematory. Friends may sign the family’s on-line guestbook at Schrader.com.