Morrison, Susan E.
Susan Elizabeth Morrison, beloved wife, mother, and philanthropist, passed away peacefully on July 22nd, 2023 at her home in Vero Beach, Florida surrounded by family. She displayed remarkable grace, dignity, and strength throughout her brief battle with pancreatic cancer. Although she lived to 71, anyone who knew her would insist she appeared considerably younger given her energy, beauty, zest for life, and grace.
Susan was born September 11, 1951 to Thomas and Eileen Brennan. She lived as a young girl into adolescence in the Chicago suburb of Wayne, Illinois. It was during this time that she developed a passion for riding horses and show jumping, and excelled as a junior tennis player at the Dunham Woods Riding Club. These passions would remain with her for much of the remainder of her life.
During her high school years, her family moved to Wilmette, IL and she attended nearby Woodlands Academy (Lake Forest, IL) graduating in 1969. She then enrolled at Newton College of the Sacred Heart in Massachusetts. After two years there, she realized she had dreams for a larger school. She set out to Sugarbush, VT where she taught tennis, trained horses, and became an expert skier all while saving money to finance the remainder of her studies. She then moved West to San Diego where she worked as a tennis professional and a waitress while earning an English degree with Honors from the University of California San Diego (1976).
After a few more years out West, she moved to Leicester, England before settling in London to begin a successful career in advertising with D’Arcy Masius McManus. Not surprisingly, she thrived in her work, and also developed what became a lifelong love for all things England.
In 1986, Susan returned to the United States and joined DDB Needham as an Account Executive in their Chicago office. During this time, she was set up on a blind date with Robert Morrison, a senior executive at Kraft Foods. While dating, she tried unsuccessfully to broaden Bob’s narrow culinary palate. Thankfully, she decided to love him as he was and accept his diet of burgers, hot dogs and fries. They were married in October of 1988 and planned to settle on the North Shore of Chicago.
While on their honeymoon, they were surprised to learn that Philip Morris Corporation had started a process to acquire Kraft. In the reorganization that followed, Bob’s new roles took them to Toronto, and later to New Canaan, Connecticut. In 1996, the family finally returned to Chicago.
Susan and Bob chose Lake Forest to lovingly raise two daughters, Emily Krall (33) and Catherine (“Cat”) Baudhuin (30). Susan graciously welcomed Bob’s three grown sons, Scott (59), Stephen (56) and Jamie (53), forming a loving, blended family. Though she accomplished much, she has always been proudest of bringing incredible harmony to this blended family. Over time, the love and the family grew, adding five wonderful spouses and ten adored grandchildren, with an eleventh expected in January. Once settled in Lake Forest, Susan dedicated herself to family and extensive civic and charitable work. She served as a trustee on the Boards of Women Moving Millions and the Women’s Sports Foundation, (New York); the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation (DC); John G. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Kartemquin Films, and Lyric Opera (Chicago). Additionally, she was a generous supporter of Misericordia Home, where her late sister, Joan Brennan, resided for many years.
During her rare moments of free time, Susan demonstrated her athleticism and fitness ability on the tennis and pickleball courts, skiing and hiking in Colorado and participating in marathons, including the New York, London, and Marine Corps Marathons. Notably, at the age of 65, she even summited Mount Kilimanjaro alongside her younger sister, Patti Lafferty.
Friends will remember Susan for her exceptional kindness, inquisitive mind, radiant smile, athleticism, eye for design, boundless enthusiasm, and unwavering loyalty and dedication to her loving family. Those who were even closer to Susan will hold dear memories of her deep love for the mountains, her passion for travel and adventure of all sorts, her infectious positive spirit, and her insatiable thirst for knowledge.
In accordance with Susan’s wishes, a portion of her ashes will be spread in her favorite place to ski and hike — the Sheer Bliss run on Snowmass Mountain. At some time in the future, the remainder will be interred with her husband at Arlington National Cemetery. A Celebration of Life will be held on Thursday, September 28th at 4pm at Shoreacres in Lake Bluff, IL.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations to PanCan, an organization dedicated to advancing early detection technology and treatment options for pancreatic cancer.