Suzanne Brenner

Suzanne S. Brenner, age 76, of Sharonville, Ohio passed away November 21, 2024.

Suzanne was born in Detroit and raised in Lincoln Park and Bloomfield Hills. She attended Michigan State University before living in Pennsylvania, Germany, and Texas, but her association with Michigan State was a throughline and she would return several times. While working in an MSU lab between other adventures, a blind date with a co-worker's bachelor cousin introduced her to Richard, the love of her life. They were married in 1975 at the Middlebury United Methodist Church and settled near Ovid where Richard practiced veterinary medicine and Suzanne worked for the Vaughn Seed Company.

Suzanne's greatest joy was children and as she waited for the opportunity to start a family, she and Richard fostered numerous kids in need of a safe home. After Melissa and Tom arrived, she was a constant presence around Ovid-Elsie schools, a leader of both Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, and a huge help in all her kids' 4-H projects. In her rare spare time, Suzanne volunteered with the American Red Cross in Lansing and taught hundreds of people CPR and basic first aid skills.

Eventually, Suzanne returned to work as a bookkeeper, first at Country Stitches and then later at a succession of small companies that struck her fancy and needed her help. Her final career move was to return to Michigan State to help sort out miscalculated licensing payments, a puzzle that she loved untangling. This job was brought to a tragic halt when she fell from a very tall ladder on September 16th, 2012. After a helicopter ride and numerous emergency surgeries, Suzanne spent the better part of six months moving from the ICU to the regular hospital to skilled nursing where she conquered her injuries and learned to walk again, taking her first steps since the fall the day after Richard was killed in a car accident. The final decade of her life was spent sometimes in Cincinnati and sometimes in mid-Michigan to be close to both of her kids and her many friends.

Suzanne is survived by her daughter Melissa Brenner (Chris Gunderman) of St. Johns, Michigan, her son Tom (Kate) Brenner of Sharonville, Ohio, her sister Pat (Al) Smith of Royal Oak, Michigan, her brother Mark (Jill) Smith of Oxford, Michigan, and the numerous children and godchildren that she befriended and that brought her so much joy in her final years. She was preceded in death by her husband Richard Brenner, her parents Lamar and Lorraine Smith, and her brother Ron Smith.

Per Suzanne's wishes her remains have been cremated. A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday March 22, 2025 at 11AM at the Michigan State University Alumni Chapel in East Lansing, Michigan. Mom's superpower was her ability to connect with children and make them feel like a million bucks, so in lieu of flowers or donations, the family asks that you remember her by devoting a few minutes of undivided attention and a big hug to the children in your life.