Susanne Boucher

MADISON – A beloved mother, sister, aunt, and friend to many, Susanne Eva Boucher, 72, of Leominster, MA, passed away peacefully in her sleep on March 18, 2022, with her two loving children by her side. She died of complications from acute myeloid leukemia at Agrace Hospice in Fitchburg, WI.

Susanne was predeceased by her parents, Eva and Henry Boucher of Townsend, MA; her aunt and uncle Babe and Henry Ashe, also of Townsend; and her elder sister Carolyn (Terry) Brewer of Reston, VA. She is survived by her brother Phil (Penny) Boucher of Lee, NH; sisters Elaine Boucher of Northwood, NH, and Donna Boucher of Marblehead, MA; daughter Lori Doyle of Madison, WI, and son Buddhisaro (Bodhi/Roger Doyle), a Buddhist monk currently residing in Arizona (children with Richard Doyle of Dover, MA, deceased); and nieces Katherine (Tom) Vatistas of Readfield, ME, and Emily (Michael) Paine of Boscawen, NH, and all their children.

Susanne was drawn to spiritual community and service early in life, moving as a young woman to Green Pastures Farm – an Emissaries of the Divine Light community – in Epping, NH. She later spent many years at affiliated centers across North America. She moved to Madison in 1979 with Bert Johnson (married 1980-1988) and in 1984 opened her own business (Ad World), which she sold in 1999. She later worked for Zimbrick, the Sauk Prairie Star, and as regional manager for DiRienzo Monuments.

Susanne loved cooking and was a wiz at any dish, but was known as the omelette queen and fudge fairy, and made a mean pot of sauce besides. She could turn any occasion into a picnic, and loved bringing friends gifts of home-cooked food or other surprises. She would drop off plants she grew herself, donuts, fudge, holiday decorations, lasagne, or crossword puzzles clipped from the daily paper, and absolutely loved "mothering" anyone and everyone in her life. Once she even surprised her favorite waitress with tickets to the American Players Theatre.

Susanne also loved gardening and had a real green thumb for house plants, especially African violets, orchids, and jades. She loved catching the Tenney Park sunsets on Lake Mendota and in season would often cruise over to Yahara Park for the moonrise over Lake Monona. She enjoyed nature walks and birding around town, at Cherokee Marsh, Patrick Marsh, the Arboretum, Governor Nelson, Aldo Leopold, the Wisconsin River, and Picnic Point, and was always thrilled to see bald eagles, piliated woodpeckers, and especially sandhill cranes.

Susanne had multiple bird feeders always topped up just outside her kitchen window, delightfully hosting a whole neighborhood community of birds, squirrels, and rabbits.  She was an avid composter and recycler, and shopped the local coop and bought organic as often as possible. She loved reading the morning paper over a hazlenut decaf, and rarely missed her afternoon naps.

Susanne was for many decades a passionate visitor of many national and state parks, with a real connection to the desert Southwest. Favorites include Devil's Lake, South Dakota Badlands, Joshua Tree, the Mohave, Death Valley, the Grand Canyon, Arches, Zion, and just about anywhere and everywhere nature beauty and splendor abound.

Susanne loved and supported her two children dearly and endeavored including them in all her life adventures. She was the roadtrip queen and we did many cross-country trips, as well as world travels including Jamaica, Mexico, France, Thailand, and Sri Lanka.

Susanne's lifelong affiliation with the Emissaries included several longer-term residential stays of study and service at their Loveland, CO headquarters, the most recent being from around 2002-2007. She also had notable stays at affiliated centers in Lake Rest, NY, Kingston, Ontario, and Lombard, IL.

Susanne very much connected with Uranda's (Lloyd Authur Meeker, the founder of Emissaries of Divine Light; also successors Lord Martin Cecil and Bill Bahan) emphasis on "Realization of Presence," and fully expressing that in a life given to "Radiant Service," "to assist in the spiritual regeneration of humanity under the inspiration of the divine spirit."

Susanne did local community volunteering such as with Salvation Army bell ringing, Agrace Hospice Thrift Store, church holiday meal delivery programs, and mentoring physically or mentally challenged young people. For many years til recently she did cleaning and caring for elderly, and was qualified to administer medicine and perform many PCA duties.

Susanne was most passionate about promoting love and kindness in the world, and she aspired to inspire everyone in loving and being loved. She highly valued giving and receiving attunements, and had proficiency in various other healing arts such as reiki and foot reflexology. She absolutely adored angels and hearts, and their art and symbology were always everywhere throughout her home sweet home living spaces. Throughout her whole life one of her favorite practices was Gratitude, and we always did premeal blessings..."Blessings on our food....For all our blessings great and small we give thanks, Amen"...and her business card actually just said "Be Thankful" next to a heart logo.

At present, Susanne was among the elders in her two primary spiritual groups, One Spirit Rising and Heartland Spirit Network. As a regular attendee of the online Sunday services she would frequently share her "here and now" inspirations and "where the rubber meets the road" wisdom. One of her favorite quotes was "If I have a choice to be right or to be kind, may I choose kindness." For many years, Susanne had also shared in practice with the Open Door Zen Sangha and had done several retreats, including with Flint Sparks and Lojong Mind Training.

On March 16th, as Susanne's condition was experiencing rapid decline at UW Hospital, we all agreed to relocate to Agrace Hospice facility in Fitchburg, where she herself had done her hospice training some 10 years ago. She immediately loved the peaceful ambience of her new room, with many windows and sunny forest views, and we filled it with flowers and items from her sacred shrines. Just as anticipated, the nursing staff was very considerate of our wishes for quality peaceful time together and it was such a blessing we could be there and assisting with care giving 24/7, even sleeping bedside in the reclining chair and holding her hand throughout the night. We did our hands-on "pure being attunement meditations" which were a real highlight, and read aloud to her all the precious emails pouring in, so alive in celebrating her virtues, which gave her great joy and gratitude.

During these final challenging days Susanne expressed no aversion, regrets, or resentments and on the contrary was full of loving Presence, courage, positivity blessings, gratitude, and being at peace with the dying process, and quite kept up her witty sense of humor too!

On Friday morning March 18th, after a 10-month poetic dance with acute myeloid leukemia, Susanne passed away peacefully in her sleep with her two loving children by her side, fully embraced in the abundant prayers and blessings of her radiant circle of loving family and friends. She will certainly be remembered for her kindness and generosity, a life of lively spiritual devotion, and her commitment to community service.

A celebration of Susanne’s life will be held at Olbrich Gardens, 3330 Atwood Ave., Madison, WI, on Saturday, April 9th, 2022, from 1-4 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations in her name may be made to the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County or Agrace Hospice, two organizations she supported and considered very valuable to the community.

Cress Funeral & Cremation Services

3610 Speedway Road

(608) 238-3434