Susan Mae Schuh passed away on April 7, 2023, at Skagit Valley Hospital surrounded by family after a brief illness.  She was born Susan Mae Everett on August 5, 1939, at Rowley Hospital in Mount Vernon.  She attended elementary school at Roosevelt School, junior high at Lincoln School, and graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 1957.  Susan's formative years were spent on South 11 ^th Street where her family lived near Hillcrest Park.  She and her friends called themselves the "11 ^th Street Gang" and had a wonderful time playing in the park, riding horses to Little Mountain, and enjoying life in a small town.

Susan was baptized as an infant at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Mount Vernon, in the old church, which stood across the street from the Skagit County Court House.  She attended St. Paul's throughout her childhood, where she first met Steve Schuh, who attended St. Paul's with his family from the age of 4.  Although they knew each other their entire lives, Susan and Steve did not start dating until they had both returned to Mount Vernon after college.  They were married at St. Paul's, but in the "new" Church located at 18 ^th and Kincaid, on October 5, 1963.  After having children, Susan continued to be active at St. Paul's teaching Sunday School, working the annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper event, and engaging in other ministries at the Church.  Later in life, Susan converted to Catholicism, following her grandson Stephen and his devotion to his church.  Susan remained a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Mount Vernon for the rest of her life.

Susan was always a strong student and excelled in high school graduating with honors.  She truly loved playing tennis at Hillcrest Park - - and was good at it.  She was proud of the fact that she could beat anyone her age at tennis, "even all the boys."  Unfortunately, there was no women's tennis team at the high school in those days for her to play on competitively, like she wanted to.  She was elected Student Body Secretary at Mount Vernon High School in 1956.  The campaigns that year used tulip petals to decorate the lawns of Mount Vernon High School campus with campaign advertisements.  That was the first time tulip petals were used to decorate the lawns at the high school, which was a tradition that endured for almost 70 years.

After graduation, Susan attended Skagit Valley College and Colorado Women's College which has since become part of the University of Denver.  Thereafter, she worked as a legal secretary, first at Bogle, Bogle & Gates (later Bogle & Gates) in Seattle and upon returning to Mount Vernon, for Richard F. Schacht

When Susan had children, she remained in the workforce by working for her parents in their business, Everett Trucking, Inc. She later began work as an Instructional Assistant at Mount Vernon High School which allowed her to provide benefits for her family while giving her availability to help with the farm during the summers.  She retired from her position at the high school after decades of service to thousands of kids.  She worked in the Special Education Department and was devoted to her students.  Her years at the school led to many opportunities for her to educate those kids and to help them learn life skills they would need as adults.  She helped them learn to read, use public transportation, and develop job skills, among other things.  She often talked about her work with her students in the Ag department working in the greenhouses and teaching about plants and agriculture.

Although Susan grew up in the city of Mount Vernon, her life became devoted to agriculture when she married Steve.  She and Steve started a small farm in Skagit Valley upon their marriage in 1963.  In the early years, the farm first produced green peas for commercial harvest.  As the farm expanded, other commercial crops were added, such as spinach and cabbage for seed, among others.  In the late 1970's and early 1980's the commercial processers began leaving the Skagit Valley taking production away from the local farms to other states and countries where labor was more affordable.  Farmers in the Valley had to reinvent themselves to survive and Susan was the driving force behind the transition of Schuh Farms from a commercial farm growing for corporate food processors to a retail farm selling directly to the public.  The first step in the transition was the planting of a small strawberry field at the corner of Bradshaw Road and Memorial Highway in 1978.  Susan and her children ran that field as a u-pick and with that, the business of selling to the public at Schuh Farms had begun.  With time, customers wanted to buy berries already picked and Susan, always ready to please the customer, started a small picking crew made up of her friends, her children, and her children's friends to keep the growing customer base satisfied.  Other crops followed for fresh market sales including raspberries, corn, cucumbers and pumpkins, just to name a few.  Susan had the foresight to recognize the demand for specialty berries, or "funny berries" as she called them, and Schuh Farms was the first farm in the Valley to grow Marionberries, Tayberries, Loganberries and Boysenberries.    As the business thrived, it outgrew that original location at Bradshaw Road and Memorial Highway and Susan and Steve bought a property just a little East on Memorial Highway, where Schuh Farms is located to this day.

As demand for the beautiful berries and other produce grew, Susan expanded the sales opportunities for the farm by attending farmers markets.  Susan sold Schuh Farms' strawberries on the opening day of the very first season of the Mount Vernon Farmer's market back in 1987, where the farm continues to sell through present day.  As the public appetite for farmer's markets grew and communities around the region started having more markets, Susan was always ready to take on new opportunities for the farm.  Susan recognized the potential presented by the markets in the larger metropolitan communities and committed to the very first Seattle Neighborhood Farmer's Market, the U-District location, which opened in 1993.  Whenever the Seattle Neighborhood Farmer's Markets grew to new locations, Susan had Schuh Farms follow.  The farm continues to sell at many of the Seattle markets during the berry season and beyond.

Susan also led expansion of the farm at the home location in Mount Vernon.  Since the beginning, the farm store has grown from a small fruit stand in a gazebo (also Susan's idea - - instead of a typical plywood farmstand) to filling the historic dairy barn at the farm.  Further, in 2017, commercial baking facilities were constructed to use Schuh Farms' produce in bakery and other items.  Susan developed the recipe for the pies for which so many people flock to the farm.  In addition, Susan developed the idea for "Udderly Delicious," the latte stand at Schuh Farms, which in addition to selling coffee, sells milkshakes and other items made with the farm's berries and produce.

Susan was preceded in death by her father Powell L. "Fat" Everett, her mother Arline Everett-Watson, and Arline's second husband Ed Watson, Sr. who was so kind to Susan during the years he was married to Arline.  Susan was also preceded in death by her sister Kristi Schei and her husband Jerry Schei of Bellevue, WA, who perished in an airplane accident in 1992 en route to the Apple Cup game in Pullman.  Susan is survived by her loving husband Steve of 59 years; her daughter Jennifer (John) and their children Stephen Breckenridge and Andrea Breckenridge, of Mount Vernon; and by her son Andy (Bonnie) and their children Hannah Schuh and Juliana Schuh, of Mount Vernon, and their son Aaron Wolfe (Kaitlyn) of Laguna Niguel, California.  Susan is also survived by her brother Bill Everett (Jody) of Tucson, Arizona and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.

The family asks that memorials be made to Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, or to a favorite charity supporting research or treatment of any form of dementia.

A funeral mass will be held on Friday, April 14, 2023, at 12:15pm at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Mount Vernon, WA.

A graveside service will be held on Friday, April 14, 2023, at 1:30pm at Mount Vernon Cemetery, Mount Vernon, WA.

A reception will follow the graveside service at the Skagit Golf and Country Club, Burlington, WA.

Please visit www.hawthornefh.com to share your thoughts and memories and sign the online guest register.

Arrangements are under the care of Hawthorne Funeral Home, Mount Vernon, WA.