Susan Jane Cruse was born Friday, 8 November 1941 in Dayton , Ohio . She was the first child born to Earl Schwab Cruse of Dayton and Sue Irene Cruse, nee Reynolds, of Columbus . The young family grew, and also moved, first to New Mexico and finally to Salem , Oregon . Susan attended, and ultimately graduated from South Salem High School in 1961. From that time, until her passing this month, she has led a life of joys and sorrow, but never of boredom. She studied languages at Portland State University with an eye to becoming an interpreter for the United Nations. However, a series of childhood illnesses ultimately led to a complete loss of hearing. After briefly studying at Gallaudet University she returned home to Oregon where she met and later married Louis Glen Rebillet, a rancher and hunting guide from Idaho . She loved the life she lived on the ranch and the additional opportunity it gave her to teach the children of the neighboring ranchers. Although this marriage eventually failed, she received from it her two greatest successes - her two daughters. The remainder of her life was marked by numerous achievements. She was a deaf delegate to the conference convened by President Jimmy Carter to discuss what would eventually become the Americans with Disabilities Act. She later enrolled at Oregon State University where she went on to complete both her Bachelor's Degree and also her first Master's Degree. She was also the first deaf graduate of that institution and engaged in numerous programs to educate educators and administrators about the needs and abilities of the disabled. Some time later, Texas Woman's University offered her a one year stipend to cover the first year of their two year Master of Library Science Degree - she accepted and finished the two year program in that first year. That degree led her back to her home state of Ohio to work in the library at Wright State University - a position from which she medically retired in 1990. She has shared this life of achievement with her two daughters, Jill Marie Weygandt of Pendleton , Oregon and Kathleen Ellen Grieneswic of Albany Oregon as well as with her siblings, Ellen Metz, Timothy Cruse, and Sara Creel. She is further survived by four grandsons and one great granddaughter, all of whom have had the blessing of sharing in her remarkable life. Assisting the family is Unger Funeral Chapel – Mt. Angel , Oregon .