Susan Sarachek died at age 86 on Oct. 15. About 100 persons came to All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Kansas City, Mo., for the service honoring her Oct. 23. A longtime member of All Souls, of PeaceWorks Kansas City, and of other groups, Susan leaves us to marvel at her life of social work, activism, and delight.
Susan’s obituary, at https://obituaries.neptunesociety.com/obituaries/kansas-city-mo/susan-sarachek-10972064, says she died peacefully with close friends at her bedside after a 7-year battle with lung cancer.
At her memorial service, PeaceWorks Co-Chair Henry Stoever paid tribute to her, “a beautiful woman of immense kindness.” Henry recalled All Souls events Susan attended over the years, some sponsored by PeaceWorks: a talk on “forever chemicals” that have poisoned civilians and our soldiers and air bases, including the former Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base; PeaceWorks annual meetings and art fairs; and a memorial after synagogue shootings—Susan was raised in a Jewish family.
“In particular, Susan called to ask if I was going to the (2016) rally at the front gate of Fort Leavenworth in regard to Chelsea Manning,” said Stoever. He recalled a peace witness on behalf of Manning during her 6 years in prison for releasing some 750,000 documents in 2010 to Wikileaks, including videos showing US air strikes in Iraq that killed civilians and journalists. “Susan brought her tripod and video camera to do filming, and I remember walking with Susan from our parking spots, crossing the street, and setting up in front of Fort Leavenworth,” said Stoever. “May we all be encouraged to cross the streets of life to take part in the important issues of the day for peace and justice, and to always show kindness and love.”
Susan, we miss you!
© 2022, Henry Stoever, Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 4.0 International License.
