Suzanne D. Luginbill

is honored with a Brick from Amanda Luginbill, Jennifer Anne Luginbill, and Jeremy Luginbill.

Our Mother, The Heroine:

Our Mother, Suzanne Davis Luginbill, was born on March 15, 1948 in Topeka, KS. She married our father, Errol Alan Luginbill, in 1969 and they have live in Newton, KS since 1971. She graduated from Wichita State University with the intention of teaching high school English, but after one semester as a full-time substitute she decided that teaching was definitely not her life's calling. She instead devoted her life to being a full-time mother. She is now not only a mother but a good friend to me, my younger brother and sister. Though the three of us are different in may ways, we are the same in that we each have a special place in our hearts for our mother. We believe that she is a true heroine.

In 1984, she with a close friend as a partner opened a small retail stationery shop in Newton by the name of Paper, Etc. The two of them built this business from the ground up, expanding three separate times before deciding after 13 years that they were ready for a change. In the summer of 1997 she and her partner sold their business. She then had more time to do other things that were important to her. She now travels, volunteers her time to the organizations close to her heart, and continues to spend time with her family, including her two grandchildren.

She has always been very involved with St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, serving as Sunday School Teacher, Vestry Member, Altar Guild Member, and filling any position where she was needed in the church. Since her mother's losing battle with cancer ended in 1988 she has been an active volunteer for Hospice. All of these things which she has done or continues to do are not near as important to us as the fact that she has helped each of us become the people we are today.

Our Mom attended every swim meet, vocal concert, art show, and dance recital that we could find to participate in. She encouraged each of us to always do our best and taught us that winning was not everything. She has always been one of the kindest and most giving individuals we know. She believes in us and always puts us first. She is the person you cannot wait to call when you have good news because you know that she will always be as excited as you are. She is one of those people who can always find some good in every bad thing that happens and she takes a joke pretty well.

She has instilled a true love and belief in the spirit of Christmas in each of us, which has been a truly priceless gift. But the most important thing she has ever done is simply to love each of us. It never seemed to matter what horrible thing we might have done, our Mom would always be there to love us. We did not appreciate this while we were growing up, but now we each are old enough to recognize how lucky we were and continue to be.

So, quite simply, no woman could possibly be all that our Mom is and give all that she does without being considered a Heroine.

September 16, 1998