Elizabeth Susan Bigwood

Elizabeth Susan Bigwood was born to Parents; Graham William Markes and Elizabeth Sexton Markes (McGovern) on May 30, 1946. Graham was a Research Chemist for Ford Motor Company and Elizabeth was a Registered Nurse working in the Emergency Room and later in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. They lived in a small home in Taylor, Michigan built by the hands of her mother and father. 14 short months after her own birth was the birth of her younger brother, Graham William Markes II, and seven years later, her sister Frances Renton (Markes).

Susan was a very active and talkative young girl, often getting herself in trouble in the classroom for her chattiness. She spent quite a bit of time standing on one foot with her arms outspread in the classroom as a consequence of her chatting with her many friends instead of tending to her studies. Susan began to play clarinet in the band and attended band camp each summer for the Marching Band. Marching bands remained one of her great passions throughout her life.

During her 15th year, while attending band camp, her best friend convinced her to spend time with a boy and his friend that her friend had a crush on. Susan wasn’t particularly interested in this boy’s friend (her now husband Don) at the time, but quickly grew to know him and did everything she could to impress him, including proving herself by swimming laps in the deep end of the lake even though she did not like being in the water at all. If anything could ever be said about Susan, she was determined to find a way to get what she wanted.

Don and Susan married on August 21, 1965. Their family grew in December of 1966 when their son Robert was born. He was a challenge to Susan as he was to test the boundaries in everything he could do. Their Daughter, Tamara, was born in August of 1970, bringing an opportunity to indulge their shared interest in more feminine things, a bond they shared throughout her life. Tom came in April 1980, bringing a renewed sense of youth and wonder. She frequently remarked that she had seen parental life from both ends of the age spectrum, being one of the younger parents when Bob started school, and one of the older parents as Tom went off to kindergarten.

Susan put her life into her family and fought fiercely for them to succeed. Each time Don and Susan chose to move their home, the quality of the school districts was critically in their choice of where to land. In buying their home in Rochester, they pushed their own financial limits to ensure that their children would have the opportunity to have an easier future. Susan was also very involved in the schools, pushing relentlessly to ensure that her kids had the opportunities they needed to excel. But she also insisted that they have the practical experiences they needed to be well-rounded adults.

Connected to the joys of her own childhood, she lived for the holidays. She was determined to make every holiday, birthday, and other occasions special. She hand crafted Christmas stockings for each child, made sure the house was decorated magically, and took her children to Bronner’s in Frankenmuth every year to pick out a special Christmas ornament for the tree. She hand sewed Halloween Costumes, and all her daughter’s dresses for Homecoming and even her daughter’s wedding dress. No expense was spared for her children. When her youngest son, Tom, was in high school, she put all her efforts into sewing Guard costumes and flags. When her eldest son was married in Sweden, she packed everything needed to make an American wedding cake and hand sculpted roses out of Marzipan to decorate it.

Susan was a very talented baker, her children would come home from school to the smell of fresh baked cookies and her talent for baking the most flaky, decadent pie crusts could not be out done. Susan also enjoyed crafting decorations for all holidays.

For Susan’s work life, she began her career in retail at a small country store in Rochester Hills and worked her way up through different companies until she was promoted to Store Manager at TJ Maxx and transferred locations to Holland Michigan. As with her family she was dedicated to her career and very proud of her own success.

Perhaps what Susan was most proud of, was her Grandchildren. She loved them dearly and dedicated herself to things that brought them happiness. She would spend her time preparing baked goods, buying gifts, and planning activities to make the most of her time with them. Following the example of her own mother, she loved providing her grandchildren with a little respite from the strict rules of their parents. She took joy from in allowing her eldest grandchild to exercise a loophole in the “no candy during the week” rules by buying him cookies with candy in them at Starbucks, and sneaking chocolate and candies to her younger grandchildren when their parents weren’t watching. Anything she could do to make their time special, memorable, and make them feel loved.

Above all else, Susan’s passion was her family. That was clearly on display as she was surrounded by them until the very end.