Our much loved mother and grandmother, Susan Diane Meyer of Berkeley, California, died peacefully on September 26, 2022 (Birthday, March 1, 1943). She was 79 years old.

Our mother often described her last years in Berkeley, living with her partner Gordon Waugh, as some of the happiest days of her life. She delighted in her children and grandchildren, both her own and Gordon's. She loved living in Berkeley. She celebrated every sunset. She was content and lived fully up to the very end of her life.

She was surrounded by family in her final days and hours and as she took her last breaths. She lived a long and good life. We will miss her dearly and celebrate her beautiful and rich life.

Susan's Life Journey

For a version with photos, contact Susan's daughter, Miranda Allen-Brower at miranda.allen831@gmail.coom

In remembrance of our mother's and grandmother’s life and some of the many people and places that have been integral to her journey:

 Childhood and Family

Susan was born on March 1,1943 to William Fred Meyer and Rosemary Schroeder Meyer, in Long Beach, California, where her father was stationed during WWII. 

After the war, Susan’s family moved back to Oregon where she spent her childhood years growing up in Sandlake, Joseph, and Corvallis. She was the oldest of five sisters and brothers, Susan, Carolyn, Laurie, Tom, and Jim.

 Susan loved the many trips her family took camping and hiking throughout Oregon, visiting their much loved grandparents John and Hazel Allen Schroeder at the family homestead in Sandlake, and going on adventures with their Fuller Family cousins.

Susan and her siblings all carried the strong family traditions and values of growing beautiful gardens, cooking delicious food, and telling great stories.

Mountaineering in the Cascades

A family story about Susan was her first mountain climbing experience, as a teenager, with her father and famed mountaineer Willie Unsoeld (who climbed the West Ridge of Everest with Tom Hornbein, in 1963).

As told, Susan, her father, and Willie left on a whim after dinner one evening from Corvallis, drove straight to the Cascades, and climbed Three Finger Jack under a full moon.

 High School Years

During her high school years, Susan had many friends, was involved in theater, and loved to write and read. She dreamed of traveling the world and saved money by babysitting and picking fruit in local orchards.

Susan graduated from Corvallis High School in 1961. She was president of the Thespian Club and voted “Most Talented Person” her senior year.

The summer after graduation, Susan and her friend from kindergarten, Joyce Harris, boarded a train for New York and set off on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe. They traveled through Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Her letters back home were published in the local Gazette Times and reflected her lifelong love and pursuit of writing and adventure.

 University Years

Susan spent two years at Oregon State University, before transferring to UC Berkeley in 1963. Soon after arriving at Berkeley, Susan and her fellow classmates were swept up in Vietnam War Protests and the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley in 1964. These events were to greatly influence her thinking and shape her life.

 Early Motherhood

While at Berkeley, Susan met Michael Randolph Raugh. They were briefly married (1966) and had two daughters, Miranda Allen (1967) and Bridget Lindsay (1969). Susan raised her daughters on her own during a 3 year separation starting in 1969, prior to Bridget being born.

In 1972, in an unfathomable and devastating outcome, our mother lost custody of us in the divorce from our father. We were just 3 and 5 years old. It limited her time with us to two weekends a month, a week each spring, and three weeks in the summer. Our mother was a loving and good person. It was a tragedy that left a mark on all of our lives.

Our mother was a force of love, strength, and resilience

With her huge heart our mother seized the time she had with us and imprinted the enduring forces of love, strength, and resilience. She had a profound influence over the trajectory of our lives.

Our mother remained a fiercely devoted and integral part of our lives and families until the very end of her life. She would later reflect that she lost the battle but won the war. 

Showing us the world

 One of our mother’s great legacies includes the many camping and backpacking adventures she took us on throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Our grandparents, Rosemary and Bill, often joined us.

We have fond memories of our grandmother reading books out loud from the front passenger seat of the car, while our mother drove great distances across deserts and mountains throughout Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.

Our mother gave us the gift of showing us how to step out into the world and take in the beauty.

 Daughters

We remember our mother for her warmth, wonderful food, spirit of adventure, and steadfast belief in us both. She delighted in our lives and accomplishments.

Bridget became an artist and fashion designer, and launched a successful business, Queen of Hearts Clothing. Miranda raised a family and became a leadership and professional development specialist.

Education and Spirit Filled Quest

Susan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Berkeley in 1966 and a Master's Degree in Transpersonal Psychology from Sonoma State in 1978.

Her collection of books made up a small library spanning psychology, metaphysics, astrology, poetry, cookbooks, travel, home organization, and Native American and Eastern cultures, traditions, and spirituality.

Her life was a spirit filled quest for awakening consciousness. She integrated many practices and traditions into her own life. She was a Buddhist, loved Hindu practices, and embraced the role of being an honorary Jewish grandmother.

Big Sur Years

Susan moved to Big Sur in 1975 to write and live among a community of artists. During her time in Big Sur, she completed many unpublished poems and manuscripts.

While in Big Sur she lived for a time on Partington Ridge where she met her close friend Brita Ostrom and worked as a waitress at the famed Deetjen’s Inn and Nepenthe Restaurants.

 Palo Alto Years

In 1978 Susan moved to Palo Alto to be near her daughters. She shared a home for many years with her friend Hanna Hoffman and loved working at Waverley Street Bookstore before landing a job as an editor at Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.

In 1983 Susan found and moved into a renovated apartment that had been converted from an old water tower. Her apartment sat at the end of a dirt lane in the middle of an old apricot orchard off of Maybelle Avenue. Susan loved living on this last bit of farmland and countryside in the middle of Palo Alto.

Susan’s neighbor Sonia Ledesma became a close friend. Both Susan and Sonia were incredible cooks. Anyone who stopped by could count on a great meal and glass of wine.

Berkeley Years

 Susan move back to Berkeley in 1988, where she lived for the last 34 years of her life.

She lived for over 12 years on Roosevelt Street, behind the home of her close friends Elizabeth McCue and Jerry Tunis, in a garden studio apartment that she loved.

In 2001, Susan and Gordon moved into their house on Grant Street, where they loved to cook and entertain their family and grandchildren for many years. Susan worked at UC Berkeley before retiring in 2008.

 Grandsons

Susan loved being a grandmother to her two grandsons, Aedan Jacob Allen-Brower (1999) and Brook Joseph Allen-Brower (2004).

She delighted in watching them grow into adulthood and carry on the family legacy of embracing a great spirit of adventure.

Susan jumped in with both feet to embrace the Jewish side of their heritage and was incredibly proud of them each becoming a Bar Mitzvah.

She watched them both head off to California Polytechnic Institute San Luis Obispo for their college years.

 A love of travel, family, and friends

Susan had a life-long love of Mexican culture and people and took numerous trips down to Mexico. She traveled on her own to Guatemala and fulfilled a dream of attending language school.

She enjoyed frequent trips to Oregon to visit her parents, siblings, brother-in-law David Specht, and nieces Cathy Dowling, Tamera Specht, and Anna White.

She loved taking trips to Montana to visit her life-long friend Maggie Carlson, and join Maggie and her husband Bill Yellowtail on canoe trips and at the Crow Indian Fair.

Life Partner, Gordon Waugh

 Susan was first introduced to Richard Gordon Waugh in 1979, while she was working as an editor at Addison-Wesley Publishing, in Palo Alto. They ran into one another in 2000 and kindled a romance that would last for 23 years and until the end of their lives.

Together they shared a love of metaphysical and intellectual engagement, travel, good food, enjoyment of beauty, and family.

Susan delighted in Gordon’s children Laura, Elizabeth, Tom, and Ellen, and Gordon's many grandchildren.

The Last Years

In the last few years of their lives, Susan and Gordon lived in their Lawrence Manor apartment on the corner of MLK and Cedar Street in Berkeley.

Their tiny 3rd floor studio had a large porch and a magnificent view of the San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Mount Tamalpais.

They loved to cook, read, meditate, take trips down to the Berkeley Marina, and shop at the Monterey Market. They delighted in frequent visits to Bridget’s beautiful home in Lake County, and found purpose in being with one another until the end of their lives. 

Susan and Gordon had the gift of six adult children between the two of them, who worked closely together to support them in their final years and days.

Susan Meyer, 1943 - 2022

Our beautiful mother and grandmother, died on Monday, September 26, 2022 (Birthday, March 1, 1943).  She was 79 years old.

Her death caught everyone by surprise. She went to the hospital thinking she had food poisoning and died three days later, due to complications from late stage stomach cancer.

The shock was softened by the blessing that she lived fully up until the very end of her life. She died peacefully and brilliantly on her own terms.

Gordon, her daughters, and grandsons, were with her to witness her courage and hold her hands in her last days and hours. We had the gift of caring doctors and nurses at Kaiser Hospital, in Oakland.

 A Comet and a Queen

So much of the experience and timing of our mother’s death felt sacred and divine.

She was fully present in the morning and died in the evening at sunset. It was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

 Although not in her home, we had the same magnificent view of the San Francisco Bay, Golden Gate Bridge, and Mount Tamalpais from the large window of her hospital room.

Watching her spirit slowly leave that day was like watching the embers of a fire burn down. Although the morning started with a bright blue sky, fog slowly crept in throughout the day and filled the bay. Our mother took her last breath at the very moment the fog swirled up and over the top of Mount Tam and the last rays of sun came in through the window of her room. Her timing was perfect.

She died like a comet and a queen, after a long and well-lived life. God's hand was in full view. She is no doubt home in a beautiful place, adding color and delight to those around her.

 Gordon Waugh, 1940 - 2023

Gordon soon followed Susan. His family brought him back to Virginia for the Christmas holidays and there he spent the last month of his life surrounded by his family, children, and grandchildren.

Gordon passed away peacefully, on January 22, 2023 (Birthday, November 26, 1940), four months after Susan. He was 83 years old. 

Our Mother's Legacy

Our mother’s greatest legacy is the unconditional love she held for her family.

She kept life interesting and alive. She brought beauty into our family and the world.

She will be remembered for her love of life, vitality, warmth, and a smile that could light up a room. 

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