Susanne Jeannette Marshall, ne Dugas, was born on July 30th of 1953 in her family's home in Turkheim, Germany, the daughter of Jimmie B. Marshall, an American soldier stationed in Germany at the time, and Anna M. Pleitner ne Marshall, a German citizen.

She was raised there until her father received permission to move his family, including Susanne's older brother James, back to the United States with him.  The small family of four settled into their home in Killeen, near Fort Hood, Texas, but her father passed away shortly thereafter of a terminal illness.

Susanne lived in Killeen with her mother Anna and brother James until he, too, passed away, a victim of a tragic car accident at the age of 16.

Susanne met her husband-to-be, Michael Dugas, in 1970. He was a patient in Darnall Army Hospital in Fort Hood at the time.  She and her Mom adopted him into their family, and the three of them were inseparable ever after.

Married to Michael in 1971, she moved to a small town in Michigan called Mount Pleasant, where she and her husband attended college at Central Michigan University.  Susanne graduated with honors from CMU and began working in the construction industry as a Quality Assurance Inspector for several different nuclear power plants under construction at the time, a career which enabled her to live in many different states, always following the various locations of the construction sites where her many skills were needed.

The recession of the 1980's caused Susanne to reconsider her choice of work, because her primary focus always was on being able to provide her family with stability and security.  With that priority foremost in her thoughts, she chose public education as her new work life, knowing that the public schools were a stable and secure institution, not subject to the vagaries of economic fluctuations.

Starting as a substitute teacher, Susanne advanced rapidly in her new career, becoming a public school principal in the remarkably short time of five years, a feat which was almost unheard of.  For twenty years, she prospered there, always advancing professionally, always making sure that her family was well-cared for.  She promoted the needs of all the public school children who became the focus of her extensive and superior administrative skills.

In the midst of her many successes, she gave birth to her son, William, in 1989, who was undoubtedly the "apple of her eye" and the beneficiary of all of her many skills as his devoted mother.  Sadly, shortly afterwards, she lost her dear Mother, who had lived with her for ten years, to natural causes.  Susanne never really recovered from her Mom's passing, and she always had a tear in her eye when she recalled the many good times they enjoyed together.

She retired in 2014, after a successful and richly-rewarding career, leaving her school administrator's job to live comfortably in her home in Katy, Texas, enjoying her new freedom with her husband and son.  She was a loving wife and completely devoted mother, full of compassion and an inextinguishable joy for life.

She passed away peacefully in her home, under the watchful and compassionate care of her son and husband, on January 23 ^rd , 2021, from natural causes.  Susanne was a joy to all who knew her, and she will be sorely missed.