Susie Grefe, 87, of Mesa Arizona, died Tuesday, June 28th, 2016. A Celebration of Life will be held at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Mesa, Arizona on Saturday, July 2, 2016 at 11 a.m.
Susie Clair Davis was born in Lewisville Minnesota on August 7, 1928 to parents Cora and George. She was the youngest of eleven children and
the apple of her family’s eye. She always fondly remembered growing up on the family farm where, as a little girl, she loved being outdoors and was especially fond of making mud pies.
In October of 1946, she went on her first date with Fred A. Grefe. He was so taken with her that he proposed that night and they were married on March 7, 1947. They had three of their four children in Minnesota before moving to sunny California in the 1950s. There they completed their family and lived there happily for many decades. They moved to Mesa, AZ in the early nineties where they spent their remaining years.
Sue was beautiful, fun-loving, and always the life of the party in any situation. Besides the joy she found in raising her children and, later, being a grandmother, she will always be remembered for her role as “Tina the Witch” on Halloween and dressing up as a clown at family and church events. She was always heavily involved in every church she attended, singing in the choir and leading bible studies. Her strong faith in the Lord was apparent to everyone she met because of her great love for family and her fellow man, and her willingness to give anything of herself for anyone who needed it.
Sue was adored by all her family, but especially her children, grandchildren and 20+ great grandchildren, the lives of whom she influenced from the moment they were born. Despite the increasingly large number of those who came to love and depend on her over the years, she always had enough love, kindness, and comfort food to go around. Some of the greatest joy she found in life came from cooking for her family, sewing new pajamas for every one of her great-grandchildren each Christmas, and the annual St. Patrick’s Day party she threw in her home.
Sue is survived by her four children, Sandy Michaud of Arkansas, Debbie Severa (Huns) of Queen Creek Arizona, Ted Grefe of Apache Junction, Arizona, and Becky Friend (Keith) of Payson, Arizona. She also leaves behind grandchildren Christine Tezai (Rob), Tim Bohot, Scott Bohot (Sherri), Tammy Norman (Jerome), Travis Severa (Jeni), Buddy Grefe (Denae), Stephanie Furrow (Jeff), Geoff Friend, Lesley Zaremba (Jarrod), and Kyle Friend, and her many great-grandchildren. We will all miss her terribly, but rejoice that she is reunited with dad, and so many dear friends.
That was her.
I was very shocked to read of Sue’s passing while looking for other news of the Fairmont, MN area. We have tried to stay in touch with her at Christmas and with phone calls now and then. We knew of Fred’s death and spoke with Sue at that time. Our sincere sympathy to all of Sue’s family. Harold and Marian Berkeland 27965 Calypso Ln Santa Clarita, CA 91351