By Jolanta
Suzanne Weilbauer Tons
2/20/1928 – 11/26/2022
Greatly Loved and Deeply Missed
When my family arrived in Ann Arbor in the summer of 1979, we were warmly welcomed by faculty at Civil Engineering at the University of Michigan. It was a diverse, close-knit group of friends. Sue Tons was the wife of a professor there, and we became almost instant friends.
I joined International Neighbors that same year and slowly included Sue in different activities.
When she retired in 1991 from teaching Spanish at Pioneer High School, she joined our Red Oak Tea Group.
Very often, Sue opened her home for our gatherings, and what a great hostess she was!!!
Sue helped our guests in so many ways and eventually guided us on tours of the Botanical Gardens where she was a volunteer docent. Sue often provided new theme ideas for our meetings. Her creativity and open mindedness were notable.
Sue had a very interesting life. She was born in Germany and moved with her family to Ecuador at the age 11 to escape the dangers of World War II. Sue eventually came to the United States for college and became a permanent resident of this country.
I have good memories of the countless dinners at Sue and her husband Tony’s small house with a beautiful view of the city. She was such a great cook; her ceviche and guacamole were unbeatable. Among her many talents, Sue was also a good painter. Later, Sue and Tony made weekly trips to Birmingham to help their son Chris and his wife with triplets.
I was invited by Sue to travel to Ecuador with her for one of her many pilgrimages, but, unfortunately, we ran out of time.
Life became more complicated for the last several years, but Sue lived comfortably in northern Michigan with her daughter Lonia and son-in-law, Robert.
Sue was a humble, beautiful woman who will be missed by many.