Susan R. Kleinschmidt

Susan Ruddy Kleinschmidt, 77, died peacefully after a brave fight with breast cancer, on April 27, 2018, surrounded by her family and friends. "Suess," as she was lovingly nicknamed by her grandchildren, was the family spark, actively engaged with everyone around her. Her high-energy optimism and focus on relationships taught us that to create a better world you start with the people right in front of you (family) or right next to you (neighbors), then simply build it out from there. Susan was born in Denver on Oct. 1, 1940, but moved with her parents to Glendale, California when WWII broke out. There she enjoyed walking to school in the warm air and picking fresh fruit from the familys trees. She came of age in Kansas City where her dad took a job in 1954. She attended St.Teresas Academy, making lifetime friends. She was so proud to share "STA" with her granddaughter Zoe, who will graduate on May 20th, exactly 60 years after Susan. Susan attended Webster College in St. Louis, and was quickly recruited to work at Halls downtown Kansas City, beginning a lifetime passion for fine china, silver, and antiquities. During a college summer, she met her husband of 55 years, Barth, at Hogertys in Brookside, where he was with a group of Mizzou Sigma Chis heading to a baseball game. Her group spontaneously joined his group at the game, a fateful night that set up a lifetime of "sportsfanning" together, whether it was coaching soccer or joining the Kansas City Comets Booster Club or watching every game of every child or every grandchild possible. In later years when their daughter played volleyball for KU, they became hardcore Jayhawks, following the team on roadtrips to Big 8 Tournaments in Colorado, New Mexico, and Nebraska. They never missed a KU basketball game on TV. A longtime member of St. Anns Parish, Susan organized many groups: Girl Scouts, neighborhood Circle events, Dinner Theater, Co-ed adult volleyball, and book groups. She joined the Association of Children with Learning Disabilities and was an activist in the schools. Susan worked in the antique business, becoming a dealer later in life, always fond of the research involved in dating and describing an item. Susan loved organizing trips. She went to Asia and Europe with her family. One of her favorite spots was Provence in France, delighting in French antiques, linens and food, but said recently it took her months to get the lavender aroma out of her clothes and she hasnt enjoyed it since then. She and Barth loved canoeing in Missouri, getting behind the scenes on Broadway and riding the train through the Rockies of Western Canada. She always organized family reunions, particularly in Sunriver Resort, Oregon, where she fell in love with kayaking nearby rivers and lakes and hiking near Mt. Bachelor. So taken were they with Central Oregon, that she and Barth decided to forsake the flatlands of Kansas for the streams and peaks of Bend. Susan quickly found a new neighborhood to orchestrate. Nicknamed "Queen B," she helped organize social gatherings, book groups, walking, kayaking and hiking groups and usually found time for "Wine Down Wednesdays." She entered many races, winning her age group more than once in the 5K Happy Girl Run. Susan is preceded in death by her parents, Cordelia and John Ruddy. She is survived by her loving and devoted husband of 55 years, Barth, and their three children; John Kleinschmidt, Kansas City; Kari Connor (Brennan), Seattle; Krissy Willard (Kirk), Kansas City; three siblings, Jim Ruddy, Austin; Tom Ruddy, Kansas City; Barbara Davis (John), Singapore; six grandchildren, Delaney, Riley, Flannery, Zoe, Oggie and Sylvie; eleven nieces and nephews, and her rabbit, Pumpkin. Always loyal to her family (and to Hallmark!), Susan had the capacity to remember every family birthday, graduation, or big event with a handwritten card. Her home office contained boxes of cards for every occasion. Friends are invited to join the family for a Celebration of Susans life on Saturday, May 5th from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. in Oregon at Sunriver Resort at the Mary McCallum Owners Park near the marina on the Deschutes River. A celebration in Kansas City is being planned for later in the year. Contributions can be made to St. Teresas Academy to the Susan Ruddy Kleinschmidt Annual Scholarship STA Giving (https://stteresasacademy.org/giving) or mail a check to the attention of Barbara Cusick, St. Teresa's Academy, 5600 Main St., KCMO 64113. Funeral Home: Niswonger-Reynolds Funeral Home 105 NW Irving Ave Bend, OR US 97701

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Susan R. Kleinschmidt

October 1, 1940 - April 27, 2018