Susan Mae Walz of Dubuque passed away July 12th, 2025, at home surrounded by her family. She was 78 years old. Her passing ended a two-year battle with cancer, which she confronted with strength and grace, never losing her sense of humor and always continuing to find happiness in her relationships with friends and family.

Leonard Funeral Home & Crematory, 2595 Rockdale Rd will host her visitation on Friday, July 18th, 2025, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. with a prayer service to be held at 3:45 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 19th at Cathedral of Saint Raphael with Very Rev. Dennis Quint officiating. Burial will follow at Mount Calvary Cemetery.

Susan Mueller was born in Dubuque, Iowa on April 24th, 1947, to Donald and Lucile (Shafer) Mueller. She spent her earliest years growing up along with her two brothers, Mark “String” and Donald Jr. “Shorty” on Stoltz Street not far from Hilldale Dairy, owned and operated by her father. The family moved to Plymouth Court in the early 1950s, and she attended Saint Columbkille Elementary.

Sue graduated from Wahlert in 1965 and studied at Iowa State University for two years, switching her major frequently and learning very little (her words). Between her first and second year at ISU, she and three classmates drove to Colorado to work on a dude ranch. Longing for broader horizons, she decided to continue west to California to spend the rest of the summer with her brother Donald on the coast near Los Angeles. She may have never left the sand and surf had Lucile not commanded her to get in her car and return home, which she begrudgingly did, making the trip alone with all her belongings in the back seat.

Sue met Ed during her second year at Iowa State University, and they were married in Ames in 1968. The newlyweds lived in Des Moines where their first two daughters were born – Charissa (Cara) in 1969 and Marianne (Mimi) in 1970 – before moving to Dubuque where her son Edward Jr. was born in 1973. Their house was a few miles west of Dubuque, in a lot next to her parents. During that time, she worked the morning shift as a waitress at Timmerman’s Motor Lodge, sometimes working a second shift as a waitress in Dyersville when needed to make ends meet.

She loved the river. The family spent most of one summer on a Mississippi beach living on a houseboat. During that summer a friend shuttled her to Midtown Marina in a small boat where her car was parked to get to work in time for the morning shift as a waitress. At the end of the summer, it took nearly everyone on the beach to dislodge the boat. After one harrowing experience in a storm on Mud Lake, the family sold the houseboat in favor of a more reliable runabout. All the children, and many neighborhood kids, learned to ski. Nearly every year, laden with food and gear, the boat made trips upriver to meet her brother Mark near Cassville and camp with the families.

Sue enrolled in NICC nursing school in 1976 and graduated as an RN two years later. The same year she started working at Mercy Hospital where she worked for over thirty years in neurology, psychology, pool nursing and finally as house supervisor. In 1981, her daughter Kristen was born at the same hospital.

She loved going to work every day. She did not know it at the time of starting nursing school, but it became clear early in her career that nursing was her vocation. She cherished collaborating with the staff and spending time with patients. As a supervisor, she always worked to make sure that patients were given the best care and that nurses were treated fairly.

Sue wanted to serve the less fortunate and those most in need. She donated to several charities, including Doctors Without Borders. Sue travelled to Jamaica seven times as part of a medical mission. Her interactions with the local residents seeking care warmed her heart, especially serving the children and elderly.

With mixed feelings about leaving the hospital and the relationships she had fostered, she retired in 2010 in order to spend more time at home and with her family, which at that time included eight grandchildren. Even after retiring, she never stopped calling herself a nurse.

Much of her service was motivated by her spirituality and being a Christian. As a member of St. Joseph the Worker parish, she and Ed attended CEW weekends and volunteered at parish events. After moving to the south of Dubuque County, they joined St. Raphael’s parish, and she frequently attended morning mass at the Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey.

Sue and Ed purchased and renovated a cottage off Massey Station Road overlooking the river that her parents had owned when she was a child. They moved there in 2001, where they enjoyed their retirement together. She liked being close to the water and tending to her gardens. She canned vegetables. She used her mother’s recipe to make apple pie with apples from the tree in the yard. Mostly she loved her garden and decorating her home, especially with flowers that she cultivated. She jokingly called her style “Victorian wildlife” and was adept at turning a thrift shop purchase into a cool piece of furniture.

She enjoyed many games. Whether it was organizing family euchre tournaments, playing “golf” with her long-standing card club (The OCD’s), a game of scrabble, canasta, Blockus or Partners (the most recent family obsession), she was never one to turn down a game nor let you off the hook for not playing, even in the final stages of her illness.

Sue loved to entertain, and the house was a revolving door for friends and family. She made space for visitors anywhere and everywhere – in one of the guest bedrooms, on a couch, an air-mattress on the floor or an RV parked on the property. She remembered people’s preferred foods and made a point to make them. She embraced abundance -of food, of joy, of memories. And she loved her family and friends with abundance.

She enjoyed traveling with her family and friends. Her adventurous spirit took her to Argentina to see glaciers in Patagonia and to Australia to watch her niece compete in the Olympics. She travelled down the Mississippi and up the Ohio, then along the Tennessee River with her brother Mark. She journeyed down the Shannon River in a houseboat in Ireland, and toured in Uganda, where she took a boat ride to the source of the Nile on Lake Victoria. She travelled throughout Uganda with two large suitcases full of toys, colorful socks, and candy to give to children. She earned the nickname “Santa Sue” as she distributed treats during a three-week trip across the country.

Susan had boundless energy, which earned her the other nickname “the energizer bunny”. Power washing anything and pulling all nighters were a couple of her guilty pleasures. She was not adverse to spending the night at a nearby casino or at home crafting something or deep cleaning some corner of the house. Her night-owl activities are evidenced in the many pieces of wicker furniture she meticulously spray painted.

She was a lifelong learner and found her wisdom in nature, friends, books, cable news or whatever resonated with her soul. Guided by her values of tolerance and kindness, she never stopped striving to evolve as a human being.

She is survived by her husband Edward Walz and her four children Cara (Tony Jhocson) Walz, Mimi (Dave) Holesinger, Edward Walz and Kristen (Erik Rook) Walz, along with eight grandchildren Edward (Hilary Lien-Beye) Curtiss, Jackson Curtiss, Zane Jhocson, Una Jhocson, David Holesinger, Emma (James Paulson) Holesinger, George Holesinger and Mekdes Holesinger and one great grandchild Turner Curtiss Lien-Beye.

She is also survived by one brother Mark (Donna Lund) Mueller and sister-in-law Cathy Mueller.

She is preceded in death by her parents Donald and Lucile Mueller, her brother Donald “Shorty” Mueller and nephew Matthew Mueller.

Sue’s family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to the University of Iowa Cancer Center, Dr. Brian Sullivan & Hospice of Dubuque, and Sister Sharon Rezmer for their care, support and kindness.