Suzanne McDonald

1948 - 2024

There are no words, Giant as they may be. Morphograghs countless in number fail to describe the extraordinary impact Suzanne continues to have upon our world. Her loss is heartbreaking to announce though lessened knowing that her light will forever shine through her students, children, grandchildren and the countless lives she touched. We are filled with love and gratitude for the life she chose to live; and attempt to capture in words a sliver of her light.

Born April 7th, 1948, to parents Phillip D. Janney and Margaret (Maury) A. Wilson in Portland Oregon. Suzanne and her sister Kay were adopted as small children by her mother's new husband James L. Haseltine to a peripatetic life surrounded by an immense appreciation for learning, love of country, nature, culture and the arts, not to mention four siblings. Graduating from the highly regarded Rowland Hall High School in Utah with its natural beauty, Suzanne embraced the intellectual stimulation and physical rigor its alpine surroundings encouraged. Active in sports and extracurricular pursuits, Suzanne joined a panel of three high school Juniors from across the country to discuss issues teens were facing: providing knowledgeable, thoughtful and culturally sensitive advice about dating, college, marriage and developing and recognizing good moral character. This nationally syndicated advice column "The Junior Realm" by Martha Lee showcased Suzanne's refined, prudent approach of high standards, a conscientious work ethic, and rigorous moral integrity. Appearing in newspapers across the country for years after she left the panel, her advice is timeless.

Matriculating two thousand miles east to Connecticut College; Suzanne, a girl who denied being a "hobbyist" had by her curiosity acquired a vast arsenal of skills she would rely on and add to throughout her life. Suzy could do anything. It was then of little surprise to anyone that teaching would be her life's passion. However, teaching was not her only passion. In June of 1969 wearing her mother's wedding dress, Suzanne married Connecticut native Robert B. McDonald at Sacred Heart Church in Lacey. The newlyweds would honeymoon down the Oregon coast before returning east where Suzanne would gain two years teaching experience before they would return to Olympia, building their home near the beach on Burns Point.

Suzanne first found work in the Olympia School District as a Special Education Instructor at Jefferson Middle School. In the fall of 1977 this would evolve into teaching a "block style" class of three periods a day; writing, social studies, history and health to, as Ed the custodian said, "stupid 8th grade punks, misfits and weirdos." Always a stickler for manners, Suzanne's caring though no nonsense practical approach to classroom discipline and smoldering fiery nature quelled any thought of uprising. Her classroom over the course of that year became an awe-inspiring example of Suzanne's total dedication to her students. Innovative and expansive, warm and ever engaging, Suzanne employed the road less traveled: morphographic spelling and its "call and response" technique unified the class and was mesmerizing to witness. Suzanne selected copious amounts of audio-visual elements, combining quite thoughtful, personal classroom discussions and tactile intellectual activity with art, or nature, occasionally holding class outside. After studies in Greek and Roman culture, crushing all the other 8th grade classes in assembling paper cars on an assembly line as the school radio station KJEF played the hits. Graded on hilariously humiliating acts of public speaking, spilling ink on reams of sometimes enigmatic creative writing, straining the cranium to spell impossibly Giant words selected by her students each week. George Washington's Birthday would be the due date for the classes' research paper on the American Revolution. WOW! In the spring, her classroom of former delinquents and misfits, now students transformed, would carry raw eggs around for a week, as sex-ed was in full swing. Liberally taught, comprehensive, more humorous than awkward, the lesson would peak with Suzanne's announcement to the class that she was expecting her first child. That collective mind blowing galvanized her classroom, and Mrs. McDonald.

As her husband Robert's career horizons broadened, Robert, Suzanne, and their daughter Abigail relocated to Pittsfield, Massachusetts before moving again to the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. There soon after, in 1981 son Theodore would be born followed in 1986 by daughter Carolyn. As a mother and later as a substitute teacher, Suzanne applied outside of the box creativity to cultivate a fertile nurturing environment. Always the consummate hostess of her family, for example, they shared their first Thanksgiving in Minnesota with three sisters from El Salvador, one of many educational cultural exchanges. Her skillful decoration of a cake, gingerbread house or a twenty-pound turkey left no doubt as to her culinary prowess. With the snows, Christmas was celebrated in that big old house adorned with ornaments and lights, just like a Currier and Ives postcard. Suzanne loved her family and was immensely proud of her children. Then, babas, birthdays, sleepovers, ski trips, music lessons, vacations, summer camps, graduations and college entrance exams are replaced by the loss of her mother, funerals, and divorce. Welcome to a new century. Now Suzanne, returning to Olympia, perpetually a public-spirited citizen applied her considerable talents, experience and years of learning to fulfill her lifelong dream of serving in the Peace Corps on a teaching assignment in the African country of Namibia. At twice the average age of a typical volunteer, Suzanne's energetic compassion for the people she served was boundless, having previously taught in China and for a year in Thailand. Dividing her time between New Hampshire winters and Oregon summers, Suzanne always found time to go on a biking trek, sharing her home with fellow cyclists, or help put out a grass fire, travel, join an aerobics class, do a 3k, go snorkeling, and stay connected to her family. As the century entered its third decade, Suzanne would relocate once again to Atlanta, closer to her children. Active on Facebook and other online communities, Suzanne's interests were broad including: the environment - especially our oceans, social justice, and yes, even acting. Then, Colon Cancer. Suzanne Haseltine McDonald, loving wife, mother, sister, daughter, teacher, and friend, that blaze of thoughtful energy who so illuminated our World Classroom is gone.

Please consider donating in Suzanne's memory to:

Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea at www.washedashore.org Thank you.