Susan Bauer Agnew's Obituary
Sue Agnew, a resident of Tahlequah since 1968, known throughout the community for her volunteer work, died in Tulsa on April 6, 2025, at the age of 86.
The cause was double pneumonia, which she was unable to overcome because of an immune system weakened by treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The cancer had spread to her spine, causing compression fractures and severe pain since early June of 2024. Throughout almost all of her nearly 57 years as a Tahlequah resident, Sue contributed her time and energy to support community projects and organizations. Pam Moore, one of the founding mothers of Help-in-Crisis, claimed that Sue was "the voice of reason" in many contentious situations. Retired teacher Jeannie Van Veen, a member the Tahlequah chapter of PEO, an international organization focused on providing educational opportunities for women, claimed Sue facilitated the merger of Tahlequah's two chapters because she "knew so many women in each chapter that everyone trusted her to keep us moving towards becoming one chapter." Susan Elisabeth Bauer Agnew was born June 17, 1938, in Cleveland, Ohio, the second daughter of George Philip and Mary Madalene Wensinger Bauer. She was preceded in death by her parents and sister, Cynthia Bauer Frey, and is survived by her husband, Brad Agnew, of Tahlequah, her daughter, Kelly Agnew, and her husband, Jack Hsueh, and Sue's grandson Aiden Hsueh, all residents of Berkeley, California. The Bauer family moved often during Sue's childhood in Ohio and Michigan because of her father's work in the federal housing field. Through Sue's teenage years the Bauers camped most summers at Interlochen, Michigan, where she developed a love of music attending evening concerts at the nearby National Music Camp. She vividly remembered the end of World War II in August of 1945, when Interlochen campers built a huge bonfire celebrating the surrender of Japan. In high school at Wayne, Michigan, Sue was active in many clubs and organizations, participating in drama productions every year, and excelling in choral and solo singing programs. In 1956 Sue enrolled at Michigan State University, where she majored in elementary education and pledged Alpha Delta Pi sorority. In her junior year, a bout with mononucleosis caused her to transfer to a branch of Southern Illinois University where she could live at home while taking a few classes. After her recovery, she completed her degree at the Carbondale campus and graduated in 1960 with a degree in elementary education. Sue accepted a teaching position in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, where she taught 4th and 5th grades for three years. During her first year of teaching, she participated in a faculty talent show, which led to a number of singing engagements for local clubs and organizations. In 1963, Sue accepted a position with the Department of Defense, teaching fourth grade to children of military personnel stationed in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. She traveled extensively with other single teachers during vacation periods--Scandinavia the first summer, Austria in September, and Italy during Christmas. She kept a journal of her teaching and traveling experiences in Europe and transcribed it years later. In September she met and began dating Brad Agnew, an army lieutenant assigned to the Adjutant General Corps. That same September she became the female vocalist in a Special Services troupe of entertainers who performed throughout the autumn at enlisted and officers' clubs at nearby U.S. Army bases. The group included a young officer named Kris Kristofferson and two other army aviators. Sue and Brad were engaged on New Year's Eve, 1963. They were married twice. The first was a civil service on February 19, 1964, during Sue's school lunch hour, in a ceremony conducted entirely in German at the city hall. That morning all army units in Germany had been dispersed in a practice alert. Brad had to obtain special permission to return from the field in time for the noon ceremony. In photographs, one of the witnesses was still dressed in his field uniform. In the second ceremony on March 26, 1964, all officers wore dress blue uniforms, and Brad's attendants formed an arch of sabers for the couple as they left the church. Brad and Sue honeymooned in Bavaria and Switzerland. The couple left Germany in December 1964, driving 300 miles on a treacherous ice-covered Autobahn to reach Bremerhaven in time to sail for the United States on the U.S.S. Darby. Following visits to their families, the couple reported to Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis where Brad attended an army school. In the spring they moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he served as the personnel management officer of the 82nd Airborne Division. In the late summer of 1965, Brad resigned his commission, and they moved to Norman, Oklahoma, where he entered graduate school at the University of Oklahoma, and Sue taught fourth grade in the Moore Public Schools. After three years in Norman, Brad accepted a teaching position in 1968 at Northeastern State College (later University) in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and Sue began graduate school at NSU, where she earned a master's degree in education in 1970. Later the same year, the couple adopted Kelly, who kept her new mom occupied for the next eighteen years and was a source of joy for the rest of Sue's life. During that time the Agnew family traveled extensively in an almost successful effort to take Kelly to all fifty states by her high school graduation. They made it to forty-nine, missing only North Dakota. In 1975, Sue began working part-time at the university bookstore. Over the years she served in all areas of the store as a sales clerk, cashier, office supply supervisor, textbook coordinator, and for one year as the assistant manager. She left the bookstore in 1995 to spend more time with her mother, who had recently moved to Tahlequah following the deaths of Sue's father and sister. Sue was active in many Tahlequah community organizations, serving as president of the college's faculty wives' club and as leader of a Girl Scout troop. She was a member of the Tahlequah Public Library board in 1978 when the annex to the original Carnegie Library was built. She joined a faculty wives' bridge club and remained active in it as it evolved through the years, served on the board of the university's Sequoyah Institute, and was a cantor for St. Brigid's Catholic Church for a number of years. Sue audited the university's chorus class and sang with it and other groups in many community and university performances.
The highlight of her NSU choral experience came in 1993 when the school's chorus traveled to New York City to sing with other choral groups at Carnegie Hall in a performance of John Rutter's "Requiem," conducted by Mr. Rutter.
Sue and Brad enjoyed traveling, especially trips to Ireland, Scotland, England, and Hawaii where they spent their time hiking many of the spectacular trails on the various islands. The couple became interested in genealogy in the 1990s and traveled extensively in connection with that hobby. They also shared a love of working in their yard and water gardens. Sue remained an active community volunteer, serving on the boards of directors for the Arts Council of Tahlequah, Help-in-Crisis, and Tahlequah's historic Thompson House. She organized and directed "Lady Fair," a benefit which raised nearly$30,000 for Help-in-Crisis from 2004 to 2007. She also devoted much of her time working in Encore, the organization's resale store. A talented cook, she baked for the "Feed My Sheep" program and assisted at the local Community Food Bank until the COVID pandemic. In her final years she coordinated the group's volunteers through April of 2025 despite her deteriorating health. An active member of PEO since 1988, Sue served as chapter president for four years. In 2002, she was a delegate to the PEO International Convention in Oklahoma City and in 2005 attended the organization's International Convention in British Columbia. She also served on a state PEO board that awarded scholarships to young Oklahoma women. In her final hours, Sue's concerns were for her Tahlequah community organizations and for her family; she leaves behind a legacy of service and family devotion. A celebration of her life will be planned for later this year.
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