Suellen Hymes Musgrove

Suellen Musgrove

Suellen Hymes Musgrove passed peacefully at 10:26 AM on December 18, 2020, in her Kirkland home surrounded by her husband and 2 daughters, thus culminating a life of over 80 years. In 2005, Suellen was diagnosed with pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer, which was successfully managed for 15 years by her wonderful medical team at Virginia Mason Seattle. She endured 2 major surgeries, several minor surgeries, and numerous rounds of chemotherapy. Chemo eventually took a toll on her body, to the extent that she was unable to endure further treatments of any kind. We are immensely grateful for the additional 15 years of life that she was afforded.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Suellen remained steadfast in her Christian faith, and enjoyed a fairly normal lifestyle between rounds of treatment. Again, we have so much to be grateful for.

Suellen began life on June 4, 1940, in Highland Park, MI, as the one and only child of Gene Daniel and Ruth Ward Hymes. Her mom named her after the character in Gone With The Wind. Suellen entered kindergarten when the family moved to Farmington, MI, where her dad opened a TV store, one of the first in the region. On day-one of kindergarten, Suellen made new friends, many of whom she kept in close contact through the years. When she was just learning to write, she answered a penpal request in a comic book, and made friends with a guy in New York. They later met in-person, when they were teenagers, and remained friends forever. She very much enjoyed class reunions and social media. Maintaining friendships was always important to her.

As a child, Suellen enjoyed her pogo stick, riding her bike through the neighborhoods, and exploring the woods with her Boxer dog, Champ, who slept at the foot of her bed. She entertained girlfriends in the backyard summerhouse built by her dad, where they frequently held sleepovers. In the winter, she ice skated on a pond built by neighbors in the back woods. She also enjoyed summer camps, where she learned to swim in the cold waters of Northern Michigan, and eventually became a swim instructor and camp leader.

Suellen had a nose for mischief. In high school, she joined a group of girls who wore bermuda shorts to school one day, in violation of the dress code. They were promptly sent home, but a statement had been made.

Another summer favorite during her youth was driving with her aunt and cousin down historic Route 66 to California, and exploring the West Coast. She especially liked San Francisco.

Suellen was gifted with photographic memory and excelled in most subjects. She graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan, with a degree in sociology, in 1962. Following graduation, she made a beeline for San Francisco, where she joined several classmates. She worked short-term jobs, while saving money for a trip to Europe. She took up skiing – her favorite slopes were at Squaw Valley.

After touring Europe for 3-months, with a group of friends she met on the Queen Elizabeth, she decided to get a teaching degree. She graduated San Francisco State, and was hired to teach second grade at Portola Elementary, near Pacifica, CA. She commuted to work along the Pacific Coast in her trusty VW Beetle.

Suellen fancied herself a match-maker, and claimed credit for introducing 2 couples who eventually married.

Suellen met her future husband, Tom Musgrove, in May 1968, on a sunny Sunday afternoon at a waterfront venue in Sausalito, when he asked her to dance. They married a year later, June 21, 1969, at Swedenborgian, a quaint little church with a crackling fireplace, in Presidio Heights, San Francisco. They lived in Minnesota for a year, then moved to Kirkland, where she was a new-hire teacher for the brand-new Carl Sandburg Elementary, teaching second grade. Suellen later taught at Peter Kirk Elementary, while daughter Jana was in attendance, then transferred back to Sandburg. So, she had 2 sets of teacher and parent friends. Also, teacher friends from Portola.

Suellen very much enjoyed teaching. She prided herself on being able to win over skeptical parents who thought her proclivity for arts and crafts in the classroom would be at the expense of academics. She excelled at both, and won them over.

Suellen retired from teaching in June 1999, after more than 30 years.

After retirement, Suellen acquired an interest in genealogy, and traced her family roots along all family lines as far as possible. She compiled the information into scrapbooks and prepared copies for each daughter. All told, she created over two dozen scrapbooks containing family photos and genealogy.

Suellen was an avid collector of dolls and other objects old and new, large and small, trendy and outdated, and used them to decorate her home, along with her many arts and crafts creations. She especially enjoyed making Christmas ornaments out of dough, a skill daughter Rebecca is now teaching her own daughters.

During vacation, Suellen enjoyed family activities, such as camping in Washington, kayaking in the San Juans and along Vancouver Island, skiing at Mt. Batchelor, biking and snow shoeing in the Methow Valley, digging clams and flying kites at Moclips Beach, and exploring new places. She also very much enjoyed activities with her girlfriends, such as luncheons, book clubs, doll clubs, as well as dinners with other couples.

Her later travels included visits to Nazi concentration camps, Nuremberg, Hawaii, and Hong Kong.

Suellen is survived by her husband of 51-years, Thomas (Tom), daughter Jana (David Martinez), daughter Rebecca (Cesar Sanchez), and 5 grandchildren:  Thomas and Luke Martinez, Marcus Mendez (Rebecca), and twins Ellie and Ari Sanchez.

A special thanks to the staff at Evergreen Hospice for their wonderful care and assistance during her final days.

Suellen’s family is most grateful for the messages of cond

olence received from her classmates, teacher friends, parent friends, neighborhood friends, relatives, and others across the country.

For those who wish to make a memorial donation, you may wish to consider Virginia Mason Foundation or EvergreenHealth/Hospice Care.

A celebration of Suellen’s life will be held  late summer 2021, well after the COVID pandemic has ended.