John William Susen ’52, Tu’53
John William Susen ’52, Tu’53, of Stevensville, Montana, passed away on December 1, 2012, after a long illness. John was born in 1930 in Chicago, grew up in Wilmette and Winnetka, Illinois, graduating from New Trier High School in 1948. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1952 and from the Amos Tuck School in 1953. After two years in the U.S. Army John married Mary Woleben in 1955 and they moved first to Rocky River, Ohio, and then to Ridgewood, New Jersey. During their three decades in Ridgewood he devoted himself to his family, community and his career in the textile industry. He was vice president of sales for Phoenix Dye Works, a company founded by his grandfather in 1896. He retired in 1988 and moved to Stevensville, realizing a lifelong dream to return to Montana, where he had spent many of his summers as a youth. John continued his work supporting his local community by raising money for both the Missoula Symphony and Mansfield Library at the University of Montana during the early 1990s. He then turned his focus to Stevensville and devoted 12 years as a board member of the Stevensville Community Foundation, where he was instrumental in raising money for the Stevensville Community Center and the community pool. The Stevensville Civic Club named him the 2008 Humanitarian of the Year. John’s wife of 57 years, Mary, died October 13, 2012. They are survived by their four children Anthony, Mary Clare, Paul and Eulalie and four grandchildren.
