Deceased Classmate: Suzanne M. Spatzier Poulsen
Date Of Birth: 06-26-1942
Date Deceased: 12-18-2018
Age at Death: 76
Cause of Death: Stroke
Classmate City: Long Beach, CA
Survived By: Dennis Poulsen, Alison Bruesehoff, Jessica Fitzpatrick,Nicholas Poulsen, Jake Fitzpatrick

An ineffable woman with an unlimited capacity for love, life, literature, charity and overcoming daunting medical challenges. She leaves a huge void in the lives of those of us privileged to know her which we will attempt to fill with mutual love and respect for others and our planet.
submitted by Dennis Poulsen
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On Tuesday, December 18, 2018, Suzanne Spatzier Montgomery Poulsen died peacefully at home one hundred feet from her beloved Ocean at the age of 76 surrounded by loved ones and caregivers. She did not get as many years as she or her family expected or wanted but the ones she got were full and rich. She was a survivor overcoming a fraught childhood and multiple physiological challenges (including primary liver cancer via a transplant). But finally even her ineffable will gave way to the malevolent medical malady known as stroke. Suzanne was born of Helen and Andrew (Andy) Spatzier June 26, 1942, in Good Samaritan Hospital in downtown Los Angeles less than two miles from where her husband was born. And so began a 23-year quest to find one another. She grew up mostly in Fullerton, CA, and after graduating Fullerton High School in 1960 she received her AA degree from Stephens College in Columbia, MO, and her BA in English from San Diego State. The quest culminated January 28, 1966, at the Reuben E. Lee in Balboa. Suzanne and Dennis were wed in Laguna Beach, CA, September 10, 1966. They raised three outstanding children: Alison Bruesehoff, Jessica Fitzpatrick and Nicholas (Nick) Poulsen. Suzanne was dedicated to her family and philanthropy and made every effort to ensure her family's and community's well being. Whether it was at her children's schools, helping to establish a residential hospice house in Whittier, the Assistance Leagues of Whittier and Long Beach, the Long Beach Public Library Foundation Board, or the Long Beach Museum of Art Board, Suzanne focused her efforts on helping others. Suzanne was an accomplished musician, avid reader, enthusiastic bridge player, creative cook (whose Friday night tacos were legendary) and passionate crafter. She listened to KUSC every day, prepared family sit-down dinners every night, read entire libraries and sewed, needle-pointed, knitted and quilted her way through mountains of textiles. And when not engaged in these myriad activities she and Dennis traveled all over the world marveling at the cultural delights of exotic locations and reveling in the friendships made with persons similarly exploring. Throughout her life there was emphasis on the Ocean and water (many of their travels were on ships). Most of their second homes were on bodies of water. And a major dream was to live at the beach. The couple realized this dream by completing a home on the Boardwalk on the Peninsula in Long Beach in 2005 where as she slowed a bit she was able to relax to the sounds of the Ocean and the many birds she studied and knew and the sight of dolphins in the "front yard." As Dennis puts it: "She wanted to live by the sea and died there. I met her there and she left me there." Since music was integral to their life together they were engulfed in it as 46-year subscribers and supporters of the LA Phil or as patrons of LA Opera, Long Beach Opera, Long Beach Symphony and Musical Theater West. Together they commissioned three orchestral works and one opera. Suzanne was preceded in death by her parents and her two sisters: Sara Lynn and Stefanie, and survived by her husband, Dennis, their three children and spouses and her much doted upon and infinitely loved only grandson, Jake. All who knew her will miss her warm smile, intelligence, wit, compassion, beauty, love and serenity in the face of adversity. With chap stick near to hand, a smile on her face, and a song in her heart, Suzanne left this life she lived so well with grace and dignity. She was partially laid to rest in a beautiful glass front niche filled with representative mementos in the magnificent SkyRose Chapel at Rose Hills on Sunday, January 6, 2019. Suzanne was further memorialized in a private scattering in her beloved Ocean on February 2, 2019. The family requests that in lieu of flowers remembrance gifts be made to the Long Beach Public Library Foundation or to the Aquarium of the Pacific.
Published in the Los Angeles Times from Jan. 16 to Jan. 20, 2019
submitted by Ted Willoughby (1959)