This week in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Week challenge in ‘Strong Woman.’  Normally someone would write about their mother, who I believe is a really strong woman, however, since she is still alive a doing well at 86, I decided on another woman in my family.  I chose my Grand Aunt, Susan Mae Schumacher.

This is Susie, as we all called her, with her 2nd husband, Oscar Franklin.

Susan Mae Schumacher was a younger sister to my paternal grandmother.  She is the middle girl in the header picture on my page.

Susie married James Tipton Turner on April 23, 1914 in Spokane, Washington.  The married couple moved to Los Angeles and James died on April 11, 1929.  They had no children.

Susie was a very nurturing kind of person, so when her younger sister, Helen Schumacher Burch died on February 3, 1929, Susie took in two of her 5 children and raised them as her own.  The life of the other three children will be discussed in another post.

Susie’s older sister, my grandmother, Margaret Ann Schumacher had my father in 1931 as an unwed mother.  Susie helped to raise him as well

On December 25, 1937, Susie married her life partner, Oscar Franklin.  They didn’t have any children either.

My brother and I would spend summer’s with Susie and Oscar at their home in Minden, Nevada.

Susie died in 1983 and I miss her to this day.  She was the glue that held the family together while she had no children of her own.