Susan Burke Guenza

June 11, 1937 - February 28, 2021

Irish!). Susan was always ready to lend a hand, spend some time, or provide a delicious meal to whomever needed help, and supported many local friends and families through difficult health crises and battles with terminal illness. When making a new acquaintance, Susan had the unique ability to gently ask just enough questions to know that person’s life history in a very short time. Her amazing memory about her years in Winthrop, MA led to many long-distance discussions and much laughter with her sisters on the East Coast.

Later in life, at the age of 56, Susan decided to embark on a new road to personal recovery and followed that path with humility and steady commitment for more than 27 years. She developed a new, even wider circle of friends in that community and she was perpetually grateful for their kindness, camaraderie, and support. Susan battled and beat a terrifying diagnosis of lung cancer at the age of 68 and lived quite comfortably and remarkably for fifteen additional years after recovering from a full pneumonectomy at UCSF in January 2006.

She and Jack enjoyed many memorable travels to Ireland, Mexico, Lake Tahoe, Cape Cod, Nova Scotia, Hawaii, Eastern Europe, South America, and Italy, where she formed a special bond with the extended Guenza family in Domodossola. Her warm, hospitable spirit, kind, joyous heart, and true loyalty to her family and friends will be remembered deeply as an inspiration and endless gift by all who knew her. Never at a loss for words, she now would remind us all to “Keep the sunny side up,” have “no worries,” and encourage us to give faithful thanks for the mystery of life and beauty of nature with a heartfelt “Amen, brother!” Susan was predeceased by her loving parents, T. Murray and Marie, and her dear sister Carol Purcell of McLean, VA. She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Jack, her sons John (Emily) and Michael (Keyly) both of San Francisco, siblings Marie Howard (Webster) of Lagrangeville, NY, Joseph Burke of Pasadena, CA, Christine Faurot of Montclair, NJ, and Thomas M. Burke, Jr. (Madeline) of Swampscott, MA plus many devoted nieces and nephews. Her husband and sons remain most thankful for the expert medical care Susan received from the nursing team at Marin Health, and moreover for all the kindness, love, and gentle help extended to them in this time of bereavement.

Susan will be laid to rest in Mendocino, CA, a place she loved dearly and visited often with Jack as the ancestral California home of the Guenza family. A larger life celebration of Susan and her loving, joyful soul will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Little Sisters of the Poor at St. Anne’s Home in San Francisco, a historic organization providing care for the elderly needy in a spirit of humble service.