Susan Shawn Stephens

Published 7:56 am Friday, August 3, 2018

1953 – 2018

Susan Shawn Stephens, age 65, of Bend, Oregon, died Friday, July 20, 2018, after a long battle with cancer. Sue was born in Walla Walla, Washington, in 1953, to Gail and Irene Stephens. She moved to Portland as a child and attended Centennial High School. Sue graduated from Western Oregon University with a BA in Early Childhood Education.

Sue spent most of her life working with children. She was a counselor at Camp Namanu for several years, working with the Camp Fire Girls program. She went to visit her sister Robin and found a job with the Head Start program in Oahu, Hawaii. From there she moved back to the Portland area and continued her career in child care. She became the Director of Child Care Services at the Mid-Columbia Medical Center, in The Dalles, in 1982. From there she moved to Tigard, where she became Child Care Director for Mountain Park in Lake Oswego. She soon moved up to Assistant Director for the Mt. Park Home Owners Association, until 2007, when she moved to Bend to take a similar position for Cascade Association Management.

Sue’s last job was with SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) where she was the Senior Program Manager. Though she had no children of her own, she spent her life teaching kids. She was a Brownie troop leader for the past several years and will be sadly missed by her girls.

Sue is survived by her mother, Irene M. Stephens, Portland, Oregon, and her four sisters: Nancy L. Goldsworthy, Portland, Maureen Stephens, Olympia, Washington, Robin S. Lock, Gresham, Oregon and Amy S. Maddox, American Canyon, California. She also has 9 nieces and nephews, and 8 great-nieces and nephews. And her most adored cat, Licorice.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, August 3, at 2 PM. The celebration will be held at The Gresham Memorial Chapel, located at 257 SE Roberts, in Gresham, Oregon. (The chapel is located 1 block south of Powell and is adjacent to Main City Park.) A reception will follow.

Memorial contributions may be made in Susan’s name to S.M.A.R.T. at getsmartoregon.org, The Girl Scouts at girlscoutsosw.org, or Camp Namanu at campnamanu.org.