Susan Lea Gregory

Published 5:44 pm Thursday, February 15, 2024

Susan Lea Gregory

March 8, 1956 – February 5, 2024

Susan Lea (Bengtson) Gregory died on February 5, 2024 following a rapid on-set of cancer diagnosed on December 22, 2023. Born March 8, 1956 in Springfield, Minnesota, Sue was the third child of Warren and Carol Bengtson. She attended Prospect Park Elementary School in Glenwood, Minnesota until she and her family moved to Oregon and settled in the Oak Grove/Milwaukie area in 1969. Sue attended Rex Putnam High School and graduated in 1974. After high school Sue went on to Oregon State University and graduated in 1978 with a B.S. in Education. In the late 1990s, she entered an Accelerated Master’s Program at OSU and received an M.S. in Education from that institute in 1998. She met her future husband, Ron, in 1977 and they married in Oct., 1981. They were together for 46 years. She is survived by her loving family, including her husband Ron Gregory, their daughter, Claire Coffey, her three siblings, Gary Bengtson, Gail Etling and Laurie Mardesich and numerous nieces and nephews. Sue worked as a math and science teacher at a number of schools across Oregon during her thirty-six year teaching career. Oceanlake Elementary School in Lincoln city; Cheldelin M.S. and Franklin School in Corvallis, Ackerman Laboratory School/ Eastern Oregon University, LaGrande, Deschutes Independent School in Tumalo, Pilot Butte M.S. in Bend, Crook County M.S. and Ochoco Elementary School in Prineville. She would work eight or nine hours a day during school hours, then come home and, after dinner, would prepare study lessons and plan projects for the following school days. Sue always maintained that the rewards were well worth the effort and labor, and that every student deserved to excel and succeed at their highest level. After retirement Sue enjoyed focusing on all those interests that eluded her during her years of teaching. She enjoyed her flower gardens and took great pleasure in attending to the landscaping that surrounded her home. Art was a passion from the years of her youth and during her retirement she was able to refocus on her painting and mixed media interests producing creative, engaging and often surprising compositions. A master at the stove and oven, Sue produced outstanding breads, excellent jams, jellies and pickles, wonderful cakes and pastries, and superlative homemade soups; all of which she shared with appreciative friends, family and neighbors. Additionally, during cold winter nights and in association with charitable organizations, Sue would produce meals for as many as forty houseless individuals. She was an avid reader, often completing thirty or more books and novels in a year; she never traveled anywhere without a book. And she loved to travel, especially road trips with her husband where they could enjoy the ever-changing beauty of landscapes as they journeyed between destinations. Sante Fe, New Mexico, Vancouver B.C. and the Oregon coast were a few of her favorite places to visit, relax, read and explore. Above all else, what provided Sue the most joy and satisfaction in life was her daughter Claire. Watching her daughter grow into the bright, confident, accomplished woman she is today was her greatest source of happiness. Being a part of Sue’s life was often as soothing, exhilarating and pleasing as listening to music by moonlight. She is still here, just gone from our sight.