Susan June Gilbert floated into the skies on October 27, 2024 with bucket hat in hand to

join her family and friends around the campfire as she embarks upon an adventure

throughout the universe.

Born in Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa February 8, 1943 into a farm family, her arrival

was a delightful surprise to her parents Dennis Maxwell Gilbert and Helen Martha

Young, as well as her much older siblings Charles Ray, Dennis Lee and Martha Jeanne

Gilbert. A bright-eyed child with boundless curiosity, she enjoyed and explored the

natural beauty around her, as well as excelling during her childhood and teen years in

the creative pursuits of writing, drawing, singing and theater. During those years the

family made the move in 1957 from Polk County, Iowa to a farm near Lime Springs,

Howard County, Iowa, and it was here in 1961 she graduated from Riceville High

school. This is also where she explored her passion for helping people live better,

healthier lives as a member of the Howard County 4-H Club, Saratoga Sunbeams,

spreading information about health initiatives to the community. After graduation, she

entered the Northwest Institute of Medical Lab Technology in Minneapolis, MN and

graduated in 1962. Over the next ten years she explored sessions at Rutgers University

(NJ), University of Iowa and Drake University (IA) in pursuit of knowledge while

engaging in laboratory work at Story City Memorial Hospital (IA), ISU Department of

Human Nutrition Research (IA) and University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics (IA).

Those years also found Susan becoming involved in the political climate of the turbulent

1960s. Her core beliefs became clear as she protested the Vietnam War in order to

elevate peace over violence, and traveled to Alabama and Mississippi to expand and

facilitate the right to vote as part of the civil rights movement. Her fight for peace, justice

and equality in conjunction with her medical background, and the revolution of the

1960s led her to become directly involved with people struggling with addiction.

She excelled in roles as a counselor, executive director and program supervisor at the

following Iowa organizations: Polk County Commission on Alcoholism (Des Moines),

Jackson County Agency on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (Maquoketa) and First Judicial

District Department of Correctional Services (Waterloo).

While in Waterloo, Iowa, Susan met and fell in love with her best friend, partner,

soulmate and ultimately her wife. Their next chapter would lead them to Oklahoma City,

OK in 1983. It was there in 1985 that Susan would complete her Bachelor of Arts

degree in Sociology from the University of Oklahoma; a launchpad into a career that

would again employ her beliefs in peace, justice and equality. In 1987, she began

working at the Oklahoma Department of Corrections where her leadership skills were

highly praised and put to use as Unit Manager at LARC and MBCC. One of the

programs she co-developed, The Friends For Folks program, has been highly

successful. Inmates are taught to train rescue dogs as companions for local community

members in need of assistance. Susan retired in 2005.

In Moore, Oklahoma, Susan built a life with her wife, Sue, that was filled with gardening,

camping, hiking, fishing, canoeing and exploring the Midwestern and Western states.

The outdoors filled her with peace. The beauty of flowers gave her pause, and she once

wrote to her mother, "sometimes it bothers me that people don't take time anymore to

appreciate these gifts of nature." The stillness of a lake in the early morning hours filled

her heart and fed her soul. Intensely private, but innately driven to help those in need; a

juxtaposition that was sometimes difficult to bear, but ultimately her mantra of peace,

justice and equality led her way.

Susan June Gilbert is survived by her partner and wife (m: 2013) of 46 years, Darlene

Sue Hill, Moore, OK; Stepdaughter Jane Frank, Ada, Oklahoma; brother and sister-in-

law Dennis Lee Gilbert (Donna Morrison), Collins, IA; niece Deborah Gilbert, Bonner

Springs, KS; nephew Douglas Gilbert, Altoona, IA; four loving step grandchildren,

nieces and nephews in Texas, South Dakota and Minnesota. She is predeceased by her

parents, Dennis Maxwell and Helen Young Gilbert, brother Charles Raymond Gilbert

and sister Martha Jeanne Gilbert Hobbie.

A grave site memorial service will be held at Waveland Cemetery, Prairie City, IA,

Saturday, November 30th at 10am.

The following organizations embody the spirit of Susan's peace, justice and equality if

you wish to give in her honor:

World Central Kitchen: https://wck.org/donate

Equal Justice Initiative: https://eji.org/ways-to-give/