Susan Ambrose Shumway

Susan Ambrose Shumway, formerly of Corvallis, passed away at her home in Albany, Oregon on Friday, January 13th following a brief illness. Susan was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1943 to Alice and Henry Woodward. She spent most of her childhood in Arlington, Virginia, with the exception of a two year stay in Japan where she moved with her family when she was nine. She had three daughters with her first husband, before meeting her soulmate Bill Shumway in Amherst, Massachusetts. They moved to Oregon in 1974, where she worked 14 years as a legal assistant for the Benton County District Attorney’s Office. There she helped set up the Rape Crisis Center. She then worked as an advertising director for Rubber Stamp Madness magazine and continued to pursue her lifelong love of art and writing. At the age of 67, she graduated from Western Oregon University with a degree in psychology and spent her later years using the skills she’d gained to volunteer with Hospice and the Corvallis Art Center Arts Care program, helping people to put their life stories into words. Susan also served on the selection committees for Benton County Cultural Trust and Habitat for Humanity and as an arts coordinator for the Academy of Lifelong Learning. Susan loved exploring the Cascade mountains and the deserts of the western US. She was also an avid reader and writer, especially of poetry, and enjoyed sharing her writing with her book clubs, writing critique groups and close friends. She believed in the power of a strong family and devoted herself to creating that in her own life. In addition, she was community-oriented, participating in numerous social justice, gun control and environmental advocacy efforts and volunteer activities that supported women, children and families. She considered her many friends and family members to be her biggest asset. Her greatest strength, perhaps, was her ability to bring her active imagination and sense of fun to everything she did with them. In her own words, she was “determined to love everyone, enjoy every culture and learn from everyone she met.” She is survived by her husband, William (Bill) Shumway, the love of her life for nearly 50 years, her three siblings (Joan, Karen and Hank) and by their five children: Robyn Neupauer (Michael), Paige McReynolds (Michael), April Warburton (Henrik), Corey Shumway (Tawnya) and Crystal Neal (Joseph) and their 11 grandchildren: Nick (Krystle), Ben, Cymrych (Kat), Kayla, Josh, Alec, Wes, Adam, Trevor, Oliver and Maya. She is preceded in death by her parents Henry and Alice (Morde) Woodward. A celebration of life is planned for Tuesday, January 24th from 1:30 to 4:00 at Lakeside Center in Mennonite Village, Albany, Oregon. Memories, stories, etc. can be shared on the De Moss-Durdan website.

Susan Ambrose Shumway

April 26, 1943 - January 13, 2023