Susan Mae Goodenow

1963 - 2025

Susan Mae Goodenow

February 13, 1963 - October 4, 2025

There is music in their mother's house. Sue Goodenow's children continue her legacy. Sarah performs flute with the Reno Phil and is a music teacher at Brown Elementary School. Emily, a lawyer, plays Sue's beautiful grand piano. Allison, a physical therapist, has sung and will continue to sing in a local choir and Lindsey, a nurse, loves music. In addition to playing other instruments, Sue's girls played piano and sang in St. John's Presbyterian Church choirs, in the Sierra Nevada Children's Choir that Sue and her friends founded and in many other venues. Rew, her husband of 40 years, continues to be a patron of the arts. Sue's music also continues with her granddaughter Ella, who is on a dance team. Ella and her brother Barrett both play the piano. The remaining five grandchildren, Aspen, Oliver, Rew (yes, Rew is also a granddaughter), Solomon and Isla probably have talent, but they're too young to tell.

Sue graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs Iowa near the top of her class and then earned a B.S. degree in Science Education with special honors and distinction from the U. of Iowa and was admitted to medical school at the U. of Iowa. Soon after Sarah was born, Sue decided just a week before medical school was to begin that the most important thing for her was her children and to devote her full time to them. She had no regrets. After the girls were older, she earned a Master of Music from UNR, where she directed University Choirs and wrote a thesis on the "Mozart Effect".

After her family and music, gardening was Sue's love. It was her joy to teach her seven grandchildren to forage in her garden. Marmots and squirrels lived in terror of her skill with a pellet gun. Birdsong and the gentle hum of bees enveloped her home.

During the years when her children were in school, Sue and her husband, Rew, hosted several young women, some Rotary International exchange students, and others' friends needing a home. Later, she became involved in the P.E.O. Sisterhood university scholarship program for women and loved mentoring the recipients. She always served others gladly, without reservation or expectation. She was a rich person through giving to others.

As an organist and pianist, Sue provided music for many weddings and funerals. Characteristic of her frank and clear desire to separate the wheat from the chaff, she would privately share with her husband stories of a life well-lived after a memorial and her concerns for couples who plainly were not right for each other after some weddings.

Sue also loved Bella Voce Women's Chorus, serving as the accompanist and singing. Bella Voce will perform music during the memorial. Our family appreciates the choir's willingness to surround us with music. We know they too have suffered loss.

When her parents, Ralph and Barbara Voss, moved from Iowa to be closer to the family, they moved into the same neighborhood near the girls' grade school. There were many happy years playing in the Voss' pool and enjoying holidays together. After Ralph passed away, Sue devoted herself to ensuring that her mother was well cared for. She is also survived by her loving sisters, Sandi Eversmeyer of Muscatine, Iowa and Cindy Madsen of Olathe, Kansas, with whom she enjoyed a close relationship, despite the geographic distance.

While she enjoyed most of all her home and her family, Sue had many adventures. For their 40th wedding anniversary this past July, Sue and Rew reserved an island off the coast of Belize for the whole family and they enjoyed a fantastic time fishing, swimming, spearfishing, etc. Normally all about safety, she went on many other adventures, like climbing Mt. Whitney, Boundary Peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Gran Paradiso (highest point in Italy), whitewater rafting with grandkids, hiking the Ruby Crest Trail, and skiing. She joked that her picture of COVID was Rew's behind, because they went on so many hikes. She especially loved cross country skiing and recently took up skate skiing. She loved the groomed Nordic trails that Nevada Nordic developed at the Mt. Rose Meadows. In 2022, she and Rew achieved her life-long dream of cycling across the United States, from the Golden Gate Bridge to Yorktown Virginia, visiting friends and family along the way.

Staying trim and athletic at 62 doesn't just happen. Sue worked at it. She was an avid cyclist, logging many thousands of miles on a trainer and outside on the road. In 2006, a car hit her and broke her neck. After healing and some respectful time off, she forced herself to face her fear and proceeded to cycle practically every day. She had true courage.

On Saturday, October 4, 2025, Sue and Rew were cycling with Emily and her husband Adam. She was tragically killed when a car crashed into she and Rew in the bike lane on Alternate 395 in Washoe County. In addition to mourning her loss, we ask all drivers to exercise caution and compassion when driving, especially near cyclists. While we appreciate occasional consternation with cyclists and acknowledge cyclists too do not always ride responsibly, we ask for understanding of the horrific harm that car or truck can do to an unprotected cyclist. Our family is close and strong, and the survivors will continue to be nurturing, loving and giving toward each other, and to our community, but this tragedy was preventable and left a gaping hole in the hearts of so many.

A memorial service filled with music is scheduled for Saturday, October 25, 2025, 2:00 p.m. at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 1070 West Plumb Lane, Reno, Nevada 89511. A reception will follow at Josef's Vienna Bakery & Cafe. The family appreciates all gestures, but encourages live plants, rather than cut flowers, as that would be Sue's wishes. We'll make sure they take root somewhere. If you prefer to make a donation in memory of Sue, we encourage donations to the Chapter Q Marguerite Scholarship Fund, check to P.E.O. Foundation, mailed to NV Chapter Q P.E.O., P.O. Box 1177, Verdi, NV 89439 or to Truckee Meadows Bicycle Alliance, at bikewashoe.org, for bicycle safety programs.

Walton Funeral Home - Sierra Chapel

875 W. 2nd Street, Reno, NV 89503