Susan Wilts

SUSAN WILTS Click here to view video of Susan's life IDAHO FALLS, ID -- Susan Gwen Thompson Wilts was born November 5, 1922 in Woodville, Idaho. Her parents are George W. and Sarah Downes Thompson. She graduated from Shelley High School and attended Utah State University. There she met Jack Larsen and they married in 1943. He was killed four months later in World War II. Susan left Idaho to pursue her love of design and she attended the highly regarded Parsons School of Design in NYC, NY. While there, she met and married Ralph Charles Wilts in 1947. They raised their family in Cresskill, New Jersey which is close to Manhattan, where Ralph worked as an engineer. For many years she was an active member of the Robert Noland Chorus. She enjoyed entertaining and continued her interest in fashion and interior design throughout her life. Susan also volunteered with the American Cancer Society and hosted meetings in their stately older home in northern New Jersey. One of her greatest joys was the summer home that she and Ralph purchased in 1963 along the coast of Maine. She felt it was important to maintain close ties with her extended family in Idaho and Utah and made many trips to attend family functions, including her children whenever possible. She returned to Idaho in the final years of her life to manage her properties there. She was preceded in death by her parents, many of her brothers and sisters and her husband, who died in 1992 in Maine. She is survived by one sister, Geraldine Forbush of N. Ogden, Utah and her sister-in-law, Lorene Thompson of Shelley, Idaho. She is also survived by many cousins, nieces, nephews, and grand-nieces and nephews. In addition she is survived by her five children, their spouses, ten grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Karen Downes Wilts of Eugene, Oregon, her husband Michael D.Webb, MD and children Joel Thompson Wilts- Morrison and Gwendolyn Louise Wilts. Sara Louise Wilts of Bruceton Mills, WV and her husband Duane Lazzell. Ralph Charles Wilts, Jr. of Ann Arbor, MI, his wife Susan, daughter Jacquelyn Wilts and step-daughter Colleen Pisczalski, and great grandson Martin John. Jacquelyn J. Wilts of Waxhaw, NC and children Ivan W. Therrien, Alex Therrien, Zia L. Heller, Hannah McCarn, and Emmanuel Wilts. Eric W. Wilts of Oradell, NJ, his wife Elaine, and their children Erica W. and Emily M. Wilts. The family wishes to thank the staff at Life Care Center of Idaho Falls and EIRMC for their excellent care of our mother. We also wish to express our deep gratitude to Dr. Flint Packer of Idaho Falls, who cared for our mother with great concern and patience through the medical challenges of her last years. A donation in Dr. Packer's name will be made to a family in the area to honor his compassionate care of Susan Wilts. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 19, 2008, at Wood Funeral Home (273 N. Ridge) in Idaho Falls. The family will visit with friends on Friday from 6:30-8:00 p.m. and on Saturday from 1-1:45 p.m., both at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Macular Degeneration Foundation, PO Box 515, Northhampton, MA 01061 or at www.macular.com. ------------------------------------