Susan Sykes

Susan (Powers) Sykes April 18, 1959 - August 2, 2005 After a short but brave battle against breast cancer. Susan was born in Great Bend, Kansas, and moved to Tucson with her family in 1970 where she attended Harelson Elementary and Canyon del Oro Jr. High and High School. In 1981, she met and fell in love with Jeffery Sykes and that summer they moved to Chicago after he earned an MBA from the University of Arizona. They were married in Tucson the following year and moved to Los Angeles shortly thereafter where Susan worked for the literary agency Robinson Weintraub until early 1985 when Jeffery was transferred to New York City and they settled across the Hudson in Hoboken, NJ. Originally working for software developer, Financial Technologies, in the World Trade Center, Susan eventually joined the staff of God's Love We Deliver, a non-profit organization that delivered meals to home-bound AIDS patients throughout the five boroughs. She was later recruited to fill the position of Student Placement for the Center for Media Arts where she continued to help others, something that came naturally to her. After Jeff's unexpected death on New Year's Day 1995, Susan returned to Tucson in April of that year with Lenny the Wonder Dog, a puppy she had rescued after finding him tied to a parking meter in front of a pizza parlor in the rain. Deeply saddened yet determined to continue on, Susan enrolled at the University of Arizona as an Art History major where she excelled at her studies. "Craving the company of adults" and missing the work world, Susan left school in her junior year to work at Voice Trak for a short time before joining the Tucson Weekly in 2000 as an advertising executive. Susan loved working at the Weekly and was proud to be part of its extended family. Earlier this year, Susan accepted the position of Advertising and Sponsorship Program for Bits on the Wire, Inc., a job she was also very proud of. Her passions were as numerous as her friends and included animals and the environment, art, music, film, photography, a good book, good food, travel and most importantly, the joy of conversation. She is preceded in death by her father, Patrick Powers; and her husband, Jeffery Sykes. She is survived by her boyfriend, Daniel; her mother, Evelyn Powers; her sister, Jennifer (Sean) Powers-Murphy; her brothers, Erin (Joyce) Powers, and Brian (Elizabeth) Powers; uncle and aunt, Nelson and Dr. Wanda Howell; cousins, Matthew Howell, Andrew Howell, Christian Howell, James Howell, and Shawn Clevenger; nephew, Liam; nieces, Andrea and Kate; step-daughter, Sunshine; and her beloved dog, Lexus. A celebration of Susan's life will be held at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, August 20, 2005 at the First Christian Church, 740 E. Speedway Blvd. A 28-band benefit in her honor, Songs for Susan, will be held on Wednesday, August 24, 2005 at seven venues; contact Plush or the Rialto Theater for more details. Arrangements by BRING'S BROADWAY CHAPEL, 6910 E. Broadway.