Susan Lynne Kessell
November 8, 1948 ~ December 9, 2023
Age 75
Visitation: Friday, December 29, 2023, 9:00-10:00 a.m. followed by the
Memorial Service: Friday, December 29, 2023, 10:00 a.m., Bellevue Memorial Funeral Chapel.
To view the livestream, please click the link below.
https://boxcast.tv/view/susan-kessell-memorial-service-yeiw6c7xmlvbci3hgtlt
Preceded in death by her parents Clarence W. and Vivian K. Hines; mother-in-law Emma L. Kessell.
Survived by husband of 51 years Roy; son Christopher Kessell (Jenna) of Omaha; sister Sharon Rockwell (Dean) of Lakewood, Colorado; niece Stacey Scott (Nelson) and their children Courtney and Christopher Scott of Lakewood, Colorado; nephew Michael Rockwell (Jennifer) and their children Jane and Amelia Rockwell of Littleton, Colorado.
Susan was born on November 8, 1948, in Denver, CO. The daughter of Clarence and Vivian Hines, Susan grew up surrounded by love with her sister Sharon in a working-class, frugal American household. After moving to 1275 S. Hudson in Denver early in life, Susan attended Denver Public Schools and graduated from George Washington High School in 1966. During these years, Susan was imbued with a sense of hard work, a strong desire to be of help to others and be useful, and an ingrained distaste for ever burdening anyone. These traits would feature prominently in her life.
After high school, Susan attended Colorado State College (University of Northern Colorado today) where she received a degree in Elementary Education in 1970. In an ironic twist of fate, Susan also met her future husband of 51 years, Roy Kessell, at a college sorority dance (they did not take each other to this dance). Shortly thereafter, she gained employment in rural Woodlin, CO, as an elementary school teacher. She remembered this time fondly, recalling worrying on weekends about the small-town scandal that was a young professional woman hosting a man at her small apartment.
In 1972, Roy and Susan married at the Air Force Academy Chapel in Colorado Springs, CO. Roy was a pilot stationed at Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, TX and upon moving there, Susan continued to teach school with the San Felipe-Del Rio Consolidated School District in Del Rio, TX. She educated primary grade children in the Del Rio community until 1975. During these years, the couple made a number of lifelong friends and enjoyed making a life together.
After a brief move to College Station, TX, Roy was stationed at Offutt Air Base in Bellevue, NE. The couple relocated in 1977 and Susan would spend the rest of her life as a Bellevue resident. In 1977, Susan was hired by the Bellevue Public Schools. She taught at Ft. Crook and LeMay Elementary Schools over the next 29 years until 2006. She treasured teaching the youth of Bellevue; her colleagues became friends. Susan was known for her thunderous laugh and tremendous sense of humor.
In 1981, Susan and Roy had their only son, Christopher. Susan poured a world of love into raising her son. She always worked to make him feel as if all the love in the universe was pointed at him. Despite working, she never failed to make him breakfast before school, read him stories at night, or otherwise show how much she adored him. She delighted in attending his sporting and fine arts events at Bellevue East High School. Ultimately, everything her son has become is because of the love and support of his parents.
In 2006, Susan left BPS for retirement. Ever restless, she instead went to work with the Omaha Archdiocese as a teacher at Omaha Sacred Heart School. Her mission included helping people, and she continued to do so as a teacher there until Spring 2008. After full retirement, Susan spent her time with her family, enjoying holiday meals and generally spreading cheer to all of those around her. She was known for making phone calls to all of her friends and for sending cards to an innumerable amount of people on each holiday. Susan loved to socialize and keep current on the happenings surrounding her family, friends, and former colleagues. Susan would take off-the-wall solo trips to places of interest, like Willa Cather’s childhood home in Red Cloud, NE, and she was a mentor at Bellevue East in the Teammates Program. In later years, she greatly enjoyed watching television and reading with her husband Roy. The two were rarely seen apart in the past 5 years, often following the sports teams at Bennington High School, where Christopher now works.
Susan loved her dogs, the Colorado mountains, patriotic music and themes, holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, spending time with family and visiting with a coterie of great friends; she wished success for the Bellevue East Chieftains, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and the Air Force Falcons, and she worked to give joy to others until the moment she died. Whether gifts, cards, or a phone call, friends and family have noted Susan’s tremendous capacity to give of herself. Ultimately, her loss is felt deeply not simply because of the sudden nature of her departure, but because of the seemingly boundless ability she had to live fully and make the lives of others more complete. She will be missed forever.
Susan’s Family asks that memorials be sent to the Bellevue Public Schools Foundation. Additionally, they request that you perform an act of genuine, compassionate, and unexpected kindness to honor Susan’s memory. Tell someone you love them, grant forgiveness, say hello to a stranger, or seek out any act of goodwill and know that Susan is rejoicing in Heaven with her Lord and smiling down on you.