Sue R. Stuhlmann (nee Roberts), was born February 25, 1940, and passed away December 1, 2023. She was the only child of Paul C. Roberts and Irene Saxton. She was born at her parental home in South English, IA and spent the first 18 years of her life there. Sue attended English Valley High School in North English, IA, graduating in 1957 as class Valedictorian. Sue’s father owned the local grocery/general store. She grew up learning the family business from an early age. When her parents became severely ill, Sue postponed her college entrance to manage the store for a year. After this, she matriculated at Grinnell College, in Grinnell, IA, where she was awarded a scholarship and worked all four years at jobs on campus. She graduated in May 1962 with a BA, with a major in sociology and anthropology and a minor in mathematics. In July 1962, Sue married her college sweetheart Ric (Eric) Stuhlmann (Grinnell, 1961) in her hometown Methodist church. Sue and Ric lived their first married years in Cicero, IL, where Sue taught junior high math. She also taught in LaGrange, IL. Later, she did private math tutoring for 25 years while she was able to be a stay-at-home mother to her sons Kevin and Jason. After Cicero, Ric and Sue lived in Lombard, IL and Elmhurst, IL, where she lived for 47 years. When Kevin was in college and Jason in high school, Sue launched a new career as a volunteer fundraiser and staff member for an archaeological center in Cortez, CO. In this capacity, she drove a van for exploratory trips and staffed adult educational programs in the Southwest. At age 60, Sue went back to school at the University of Arizona in American Indian Studies. And at 61, she hiked to the floor of the Grand Canyon, an accomplishment she was quite proud of. Sue painted, loved tending her flowers, and was a voracious reader. She loved to cook, traveled widely, and was a lover of Native American culture and art. In addition to Illinois, Sue and Ric spent many happy months at their homes in Eagle River, WI and Tucson, AZ. Sue would say that the most important part of her life was her family and friends. She is survived by her husband Ric and her sons Kevin (Lori) and Jason (Lori).
A celebration of life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Cancer Society, https://www.cancer.org/ or to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, http://www.michaeljfox.org/. Arrangement in care of Elmhurst Community Funeral Home – THE AHLGRIM CHAPEL, 567 S. Spring Rd., Elmhurst, IL 60126. Info: 630-834-3515 or www.elmhurstfh.com.
