Susan Marianne Fishburn Fowler

Susan Marianne Stockseth Fishburn Fowler slipped away on Friday morning, November 11, 2016.  Her passing was unexpected and resulted from a brain hemorrhage.

Intelligent, supremely talented, fun, humorous, and loving, Susan has left behind family and friends from every walk of life who are better for knowing her.  Susan was born November 1, 1949, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Vernon L. and Leonore Lippold Stockseth.  She attended public schools in Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah.  She was a graduate of Bonneville High School, Weber State College (B.A.) and Utah State University (Master’s Degree).  She married J. Scott Fishburn (later divorced). 

A gifted writer, Susan expressed her deepest thoughts and feelings through poetry.  Susan had an eye for beauty and design.  She could transform a living space into something inviting and original and do it on a shoe string.  Thrift stores and garage sales were gold mines for her creativity.  Susan’s talents seemed endless.  Her gifts are reflected in a poem she wrote which earned her an honorable mention in a poetry competition at the University of Utah while she was a high school student.

An Alliance of Souls

To commune with the music of words

And string them in sparkling strands

That speak the things my heart feels

And my mind thinks,

But cannot express in any other way is happiness

And for another to listen

And toy with the chains

And understand and feel as my heart feels

And think as my mind thinks

Is an alliance of souls.

In spite of her life-long struggle with mental illness, Susan won every battle, and emerged stronger from the fight.  Her positive attitude and gratitude for every good thing that came her way was remarkable.  She made the best of her circumstances and reached out to love the people around her by spending time with them, sensing their needs and offering them genuine kindness. Her signature greeting was “Hi Darlin.”

Motherhood and love for her five children was Susan’s lifeline when life was the hardest. Time spent with her children and grandchildren was the joy of her life.   She is survived by children, Cory Scott Fishburn, Kelly Ann Fishburn, Kristen Fishburn Carbo (John), Katie Fishburn Ostrovsky (Ben), all of Phoenix, AZ and Christopher John (CJ) Fishburn, Salt Lake City, UT.  Also survived by eight grandchildren; sisters, Jennifer Marsh, Annette Marston (Mike), Cindy King (Corey) and brother Mark Stockseth (Marylou), as well as nieces, nephews and their children who each had a special relationship with Susan.  She was preceded in death by her parents.