08 Jan Kristine Susan “Sue” Szugye

Kristine Susan “Sue” Szugye, aged 65, passed away unexpectedly on January 3 rd , 2024. She was born on a beautiful fall day, October 19 th , 1958, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Raised by her loving mother, Norma, she found lifelong friends in the Avenues, where she later returned to raise her family.

She worked many jobs over the years but was best known for her time as a manager at the 2nd Avenue Laundry. Before she retired years ago, she would often be seen walking to and from work with her work companion, a black lab dog named Shadow. She loved talking with her customers and did their laundry with care and love; if you were lucky, Shadow would give you free licks. Ever the entrepreneur and always wanting to share all the neat things she found, she opened an antique store called Treasures on 9 th Avenue. Sue enjoyed learning the history of the items brought to her store and listening to the stories that her customers would share with her.

Sue was an avid fan of the Utah Utes, Utah Jazz, and Pittsburgh Steelers. She and her loving husband, Joe Szugye, seemed to have an arsenal of Terrible Towels at the ready for any Steelers game. She was gifted with words, writing many short stories and prose that she shared with her family and friends. In the mid-90s, she wrote a jingle celebrating the Utah Jazz that the family sang on a local radio station.

We love our Utah, our Utah Jazz,
they play with stamina, and such pizzazz!
We love our Utah, GO JAZZ!
Oh, Utah Jazz we love you!
We love Mark Eaton and Stockton too.
We love our Mailman; he shines on through!
And when you see the things they do!
Oh, you’ll love the Utah Jazz too!

Susan felt most at peace in nature. She introduced her children to camping, where there are a lot of stories (both comedies and horror) that the girls remember. By far, her favorite place to camp and recharge was Tony’s Grove. After she retired, Sue dedicated much of her time to the outdoors, giving love to her garden, going on nature walks and hikes, and camping. She would dote upon her tomato plants and irises filled her with joy.

She collected little trinkets and loved sharing her treasures with her grandchildren. She enjoyed taking her grandchildren on outdoor adventures and was happy to explore anything, from big trees to tiny bugs with them. Sue enjoyed being a silly Grandma and beyond, sharing her love of nature, reading, writing, rain and lightning storms, music, cooking, and baking with her grandkids.

Her grandkids count her among their best friends. She was forced always happy to babysit and loved to develop stories with all sorts of different toys that her grandkids would bring to her. She loved to help develop and expand her grandkid’s imaginations and encouraged their creativity.

Sue was also pretty competitive. Sue and Joe were known for long bouts of different games, like playing cardgames, horseshoes, mancala, and foosball. Proof of the various score boards could be found around the house and sometimes shown off on the refrigerator for years on end.

Sue found a way to make holidays extra magical, especially on Halloween. It was a family tradition to enjoy a warm bowl of chili before going out for trick or treating, and then stopping for another bowl if it got too cold. You would always see her with a Pepsi in hand and she loved listening to Elton John since she was a teenager. She loved anything purple, felt connected to ravens, and was very spiritual. She would explore the old ways and was dedicated to finding
paths to connect with her ancestors. Of special note, Sue survived the pandemic with her sweet little kitty, Gumball. Gumball makes the best biscuits, and he brought a lot of laughter during that trying time.

Sue is survived by her husband, Joe, and children Ashley Szugye (Dale Rillon), Amie Szugye (Bert Ekstrom), Sarah (Cole) Fowden, and Anita Mitchell (Manuel Herrera) and grandchildren Lydia, Milo, Kingston, Isaac, Lucas, Effy, Devlyn, and Lillian. Also, sister Valorie (Ron) Cook, in-laws Paul and Cindy Szugye, Jesse and Tricia Szugye, Brian and Lana, and Barbara Smith.

She is proceeded in death by her mother, Norma C. Madsen Jones, step father Leslie Jones,mother-in-law Eleanor Szugye, sister Shanna Reynolds, and brother Robert Lee Kump.

A memorial service will be held on January 16 th , 2024, at 6:30 pm, at City View Mortuary,
1001 E 11 th Avenue, in Salt Lake City. 

Flowers are welcome. Sue loved lilacs, roses, lavender, jasmine, and any purple flowers.