Susanne Davis

1922 - 2011

Susanne Davis passed away on November 16, 2011 from complications due to Alzheimer’s disease.  She was 89.

Susanne was born on February 19, 1922 in Oak Park, Illinois.  She was the first child of William and Alice Shuman.   Her father owned a children’s book publishing company with his cousin.  The family moved to California in 1924 to open a western branch of the company.

Susanne grew up in Los Angeles where books and music were a part of her daily life.  Both her parents played the piano and Susanne started piano lessons at an early age. 

Susanne graduated from UCLA in 1943 with a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and a minor in music.  In August, 1943, Susanne married Robert Davis, a high school sweetheart she had met in 10^th grade geometry.  Bob and Susanne spent the years during World War II on several bases in the Southern United States.

After the war, Bob and Susanne settled in Los Angles and raised two children, Carol and Charles.  Music and books continued to be important in Susanne’s life and she added art to her interests.   Susanne and Bob also took up contract bridge, eventually becoming Life Masters.

The 1960s saw Susanne’s two children growing up and Susanne decided to pursue a career in counseling.  To this end, she returned to college and got a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from California State University at Northridge and a Master’s Degree in Psychology from Columbia University in New York, accomplished during a work assignment Bob had with IBM in New York.

In 1968, Susanne went to work for the California Department of Rehabilitation as a counselor and spent 18 years in the department, eventually retiring as a District Administrator in 1986.

In 1986, Bob and Susanne move to Hawaii, something they had dreamed of since their first trip to Hawaii in 1953. They spent many happy years on the “Big Island” in a house designed by Bob.  Even in retirement, Susanne remained active, playing contract bridge twice per week, volunteering for Kona Crafts (an organization dedicated to preserving Hawaiian culture) and traveling.  Susanne and Bob have been all over the world.  They not only traveled to most countries in Europe but visited more out of the way destinations in Asia, Australia, Africa and South America.

Susanne is survived by a daughter, Carol Moss of Cayucos, California, a son, Charles Davis of Nipomo, California,  five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.