Rachael Jean Suczek's Obituary
Rachael Jean Suczek, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, passed away on Monday, September 4, 2017, at UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco, California, from respiratory failure. She was 50.
Rachael was born in San Jose, California, on July 17, 1967–the Summer of Love–to Peter and Sherren Suczek. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a BS in Biology in 1989. Afterwards, she traveled throughout Asia and lived in Manhattan and western Massachusetts before returning to the Bay Area in 1993. On May 14, 1994, she married John Kuo in Berkeley, CA.
Rachael was passionate about her children, husband, friends, food and travel. Her talents were numerous and her generosity boundless. She had a fierce intellect but an even more encompassing heart. She became a beloved preschool teacher where she turned her love of children, gardening and cooking into a career in early childhood education.
In 2013 she was diagnosed with late stage colon cancer, which she was treated for and successfully battled while continuing to enjoy travel, friends and family. In the last months of her life, she traveled to Italy, Prague, and Hawaii, and witnessed the solar eclipse totality in Oregon.
She is survived by her husband John, her daughters Kaili and Camille, her son Hartley, and her grand daughter Tahira. We will all miss her smile, warmth and humor. Her love will live on in us forever.
What’s your fondest memory of Rachael?
What’s a lesson you learned from Rachael?
Share a story where Rachael's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Rachael you’ll never forget.
How did Rachael make you smile?