SUZANNE HODDER (SHUSHANIG CHAHBALIAN)

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SUZANNE HODDER (nee SHUSHANIG CHAHBALIAN) With her family at her side, Suzanne passed away peacefully at Donwood Manor on October 28, 2007. She is greatly loved by her husband Albert; her six children - Blanche, Anne (Doug), Phil, Ruth (Günter), Grace (Manfred) and Cathy (Terry); her nine grandchildren - Liz (Marty), Christopher, Patricia, Catherine, Sebastian, Vanessa, Etienne, Dominique and Tamar); her great-granddaughter Annabelle; her brother Andranig (Marie-Jeanne); and all her friends in Canada, Europe and Africa. She was predeceased by her mother Valentine, her father Armenag and her sister Shenorhig. Suzanne - her Armenian name, Shushanig, means little white lily - was born in Varna, Bulgaria, on March 25, 1923. She then moved with her family to Marseille, where she grew up. She married Albert, also a Salvationist pastor, in Paris in 1950. Together, they shared a joint ministry for nearly 50 years in France and England and as of 1968, in Canada. Children and women were at the heart of Suzanne's ministry. She was also a substitute teacher and an ardent and kindly leader in the Girl Guide Movement. She befriended the sick by making home and hospital visits and spent three short periods with Albert in N'djamena, Chad; and in Kinshasa, Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). Although she was already affected by Alzheimer's, she helped strengthen the homemaking skills of a number of local women and told stories, played games and sang songs with children who had been orphaned by the 1994 massacres in Rwanda. Suzanne was an avid reader and she maintained a prolific correspondence with each of her six children in different parts of the world. She was also given to spontaneous hospitality of family and friends from many countries. In 1999, she became a full-time resident of the Salvation Army's Golden West Centennial Lodge nursing home in Winnipeg. She was transferred to Calvary Place Personal Care Home in 2002 and then to Donwood Manor Personal Care Home in 2006. The family wishes to thank the entire staff in these three fine residences for every effort put forward in the best interest of Suzanne's care and comfort. Friends who patiently helped to feed her are also included in these words of heartfelt thanks. Memorial service will be held on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 3:30 p.m. at Sargent Avenue Mennonite Church, 926 Garfield Street, Winnipeg. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Donwood Manor Personal Care Home, 171 Donwood Drive, Winnipeg, R2G 0V9. FRIENDS FUNERAL SERVICE 2146 Main Street 339-5555

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Oct 30, 2007