Oral history interview with Suzanne Young

Author / Creator

Young, Suzzane

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Physical

Summary

Suzanne Young (b.1949) was born in Macomb, Illinois but moved with her family to La Crosse in 1953 where her father took a position as placement director at La Crosse State College and later was De...

Suzanne Young (b.1949) was born in Macomb, Illinois but moved with her family to La Crosse in 1953 where her father took a position as placement director at La Crosse State College and later was Dean of Education and principal at the campus school. Her father, Bernard Young (1914-1993) was born and reared in eastern Pennsylvania and met his wife Bernice Riggs Young (b.1915) at Bloomsburg State College in Pennsylvania. They were married in 1940 and had two children Jeff (b.1944) and Suzanne (b.1949). Her father received a masters degree from the University of Colorado in Greeley and his doctorate in education from the University of Illinois. Suzanne grew up in a ranch home at 2144 Cliffview Terrace off State Road. She and her brother attended the campus school on the university campus from kindergarten through 9th grade. Suzanne attended the campus school from 1954-1964 and has memories of many teachers or supervisors including Alice Drake and Howard Fredericks. Her father was principal of the shool during the years she attended. Suzanne attended Central High School from 1964-1967 and was particularly interested in theater and French. She went to Cornell College in Mt Vernaon, Iowa for one year but returned to La Crosse and enrolled at La Crosse State University in the winter of 1967. She majored in French and graduated from UW L in December of 1971. While she attended college in La Crosse she became very active with the community theater during the early years and was also involved with the campus theater. Suzanne was a very good student in high school and graduated 10th out of a class of 410 students. Her GPA in college was 3.94. After graduation she traveled to Europe (England and France) for 2 1/2 months. Suzanne moved to Denver from 1973-1976 working as an executive assistant at a trade journal company and later for a real estate company. She moved to Greenwich, Conn for a few months late in 1976. She then moved to Southern California (Los Angeles area) in early 1977. She lived and worked in the LA area for 27 years. Suzanne worked in the film industry and publishing business in various jobs. She also had a business as a personal chef for two years in which she prepared vegetarian meals for busy up-scale people. She called her business the "Rambling Rutabaga." During the early years of her life in LA she reconnected with Anne Drecktrah "71" and continued their friendship. She moved back to La Crosse in May of 2004 to be with her elderly mother. She currently works as an administrative assistant for the La Crosse County Historical Society. Suzanne was married for a brief time and has no children. She has two (or three?) charming cats.

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