Suzanne Catherine Doane - Davis

On July 7th, 2024, after a 3 ½ year battle of recovering from complications after her stem cell transplant, Suzanne lost her final battle against a fast moving infection in which her body did not have the reserve to defend against. She was brave, tenacious, and resilient and did not go without a fight. The way in which she left us was so beautifully fitting to who she was and how she lived her life. She was born to Edward & Ann Doane on her dad’s birthday March 6th ,1961 in Traverse City, Michigan. They then moved to Rochester, NY with many summers spent at the cottage on lake Canidaigua. From there, they moved to Kansas City until the end of her middle school years then moved to Tucson, AZ where she graduated from Amphitheater HS Class of 1979. She attended the University of Arizona and received her bachelor of Speech & Hearing Science Class of 1983 and Master of Science Class of 1985.

Soon after graduating from the University of Arizona, she took a leap of faith and moved to Ventura in 1986 for a job at St. Johns Hospital working with stroke and head trauma patients. She then decided to follow her passion for working with kids and joined a private practice in Thousand Oaks, at California Speech and Rehabilitation. Her plan was to only stay in California for a year, however on the fateful night of April 27th, 1987, at Bobby McGee’s grand opening in Oxnard, she asked Tim to dance (Yes, she picked him up in a bar). From there, the rest was history. They married on September 30, 1989, and enjoyed 34+ years together. In 1992, they started their family of 2 daughters. Lauren was born in 1992, Patricia was born in 1995 and adopted into the family in 1998. After starting her family, she wanted to be closer to home and worked the last 18 years for the Ventura Unified School District before having to retire early in 2022 due to her declining health. 

Her greatest sense of pride and purpose was her family, her friends, and her faith community at Our Lady of the Assumption church. She joined the RCIA team to help people of all ages renew their faith or to come to know the Catholic faith. Additionally, she was a Eucharistic minister and confirmation leader for teens to who wanted to learn more about their faith. She was heavily involved with many retreats, helped with cooking meals for countless church events, and went on several mission trips to Nicaragua with both of her daughters. Her truest joys in life were spending time with her girls, her fur babies, and her husband. She loved camping at the beach and watching sunsets with her feet in the sand and water with her Tribe of people that have come to be our family. It is our hope that the next time you’re at the beach, you look out to the waves and the sunset and feel Sue in the breeze from the waves and see her beautiful smile in the sunset.

Sue’s spirit went on to join her mother Ann Doane, her Mother and Father-in-law Nadine & Don Davis, and both sets of her grandparents. She is survived and dearly missed by her husband Timothy, daughters Lauren of Ventura, Patricia of Fort Hood, TX, sister Betsy (Charlie) Ganz of Phoenix, AZ, Nephews, Joshua (Anita) Davis of San Juan Capistrano, CA. & Wesley Ganz of Seattle, WA.  Nieces, Cara Davis of Oxnard, CA and Grace Ganz of Phoenix, AZ, her father Edward of Scottsdale, AZ. And brother and sister-in-law Randy & Katy Davis of Lancaster, numerous cousins and countless friends, and lastly, her fur babies that she loved dearly, Bella and Winnie.

Thank you to all the doctors and nurses at City of Hope and Community Memorial Hospital for their continued love, care, and unending support. The outpouring of prayers and support from friends, family, and strangers has left us speechless. 

A funeral Mass will be held on July 31st, 2024, at 11;00 am at Our Lady of the Assumption Church. Located at 3175 Telegraph Rd. in Ventura, CA. A reception will follow the mass where friends and loved ones will have the opportunity to share stories of our sweet mama Sue.  

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