Susan E. Klepp

To know Susan E. Klepp is to be in awe.

Born in Oak Park, IL in 1943, Susan was the oldest daughter of Janet (Stevens) Klepp and Walter "Wally" Klepp, and sister to Lawrence "Larry" Klepp and Marjorie "Maggie" Klepp. She met Philip Rush in Philadelphia in 1974. They married in 1976 and have two children, Ben (Karen Divver) and Emily. They have two grandchildren, Jackson and Weston Rush.

Susan graduated from Simpson College in 1965, and achieved her masters degree and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. She became a full tenured professor of history at Rider University, after which she was invited to join the faculty of Temple University.

Susan Klepp was a teacher, scholar, mentor, and author. She shared her research and ideas freely with her colleagues. Her doctoral dissertation, "Philadelphia in Transition: A Demographic History of the City and its Occupational Groups, 1720 - 1830" was an early demonstration of her innovative approach to history and the depth of her scholarship. Notable among her many publications were "The Infortunate: The Voyage and Adventures of William Moraley, an Indentured Servant" with Billy G. Smith, "The Diary of Hannah Callendar" with Karin Wulf, and "Souls for Sale." In 2010, "Revolutionary Conceptions" was awarded the American Historical Association's Joan Kelly Prize for the year's best book in women's feminist history.

Those who know her as a writer and academic of great renown might be surprised to learn that she was a great dancer, or that she loved roller coasters. She loved, and was always loved by, dogs. She was a great artist, whether doodles on lunch napkins or watercolor landscapes. And she was incredibly funny.

Beyond this, Susan was a person of unfathomable kindness. She wasn't flashy or prideful, in fact quite the opposite. She had the quiet, calm steadiness of someone who knew herself, and she was uncompromising in her morals. Her friend and colleague Karin Wulf once said of her, "[Some people] think she is perennially mild mannered. Susan is perennially well mannered, but that, of course, is quite different."

She met Phil Rush at a party one night in 1974 and they were together ever since. His love and dedication through life's joys, and its sturm und drang, especially over a dozen years of Parkinson's, are an inspiration.

She left this earth as she walked it: with strength and grace, making jokes, singing along to Motown tunes, and giving an impromptu historical lecture. All of us who knew Susan Klepp are immeasurably better for it.

Her last gift to the world is a biography of Alice of Dunk's Ferry, an enslaved woman whose life spanned three centuries. Susan Klepp's scholarship, intelligence, insight and compassion will last longer. "Alice" will be published this year by the University of Illinois Press.