Susan Kuehn Boyd

Susan Kuehn Boyd

Iowa City

Susan Kuehn Boyd passed away December 9, 2025 at Oaknoll Retirement Residence in Iowa City. Susan was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on February 19, 1926 to Henry and Alma (Boehme) Kuehn. She grew up with her younger sisters Helen and Barbara (Belew), and brother Henry. She was educated in the Minneapolis Public Schools and graduated valedictorian from West High School. She attended Wellesley College where she majored in English Composition. In 1945, Susan was Mademoiselle magazine’s guest fiction editor. The following year her short story ‘The Rosebush’ won Mademoiselle’s College Fiction Contest. That same story was also selected for publication in the 1947 edition of the O. Henry Prize Story Collection and Herschell Brickell’s Prize Stories.

Following her graduation from Wellesley in 1947, Susan worked for six years at the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, first as a reporter, and later as an editor of the Women’s Pages. Her press credentials were signed by then-Mayor Hubert Humphrey, and she interviewed many famous men and women of the day including Helen Keller. She also continued writing fiction and attended a writing class at the University of Minnesota taught by Robert Penn Warren.

She won a creative writing fellowship at Stanford in Palo Alto, California. There, she published ‘The Hunt’, which was featured in Herschell Brickell’s Prize Stories of 1950, and ‘The Searchers,” which she wrote under the guidance of Wallace Stegner and published in Stanford Short Stories and Best American Short Stories. Susan continued to write fiction, as well as non-fiction, and her work was published in magazines such as Redbook, The Writer, and Harpers.

On August 28, 1954, Susan married Willard ‘Sandy’ Boyd. They settled in Iowa City that same year, where Sandy taught at the University of Iowa College of Law and later served as President of the University. During this time, Susan was the gracious hostess of numerous University events and gatherings. Sandy would always say he could never have been president without Susan.

Susan was an active volunteer in a number of organizations, including the Unitarian Universalist Society, Raphael Club, 19th Century Club, United Nations Association, and University Club. She also was a steadfast volunteer at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and eventually became one of the first patient representatives at UIHC.

In 1981, Susan and Sandy moved to Chicago where he was President of the Field Museum of Natural History for the next fifteen years. During this time, they traveled the world as part of their roles with the museum. Susan continued to write, and she served as the editor of Syllabus, a section publication of the American Bar Association. She later wrote a book chronicling the history of the section, The ABA's First Section: Assuring a Qualified Bar. Susan also served on the board of Urban Gateways, an organization promoting arts education in Chicago schools, and the Women's Board of the Field Museum of Natural History. She was also an active member of the Friday Club and the Fortnightly Club.

They returned to Iowa City in 1997 where Susan continued to volunteer, including serving as President of Elder Services, Inc. She also continued to write and in 2002 published The Wide—Brimmed Hat, a collection of her short stories and other writings. Susan spent many summers on Madeline Island in Lake Superior, beginning in the 1960s and every year thereafter, where she enjoyed writing and spending time with family and friends.

Susan is survived by her children, Betsy Boyd (Bill Nusser), Bill Boyd (Diane) and Tom Boyd (Liz), seven grandchildren, Ross Nusser (Hope), Charlie Nusser (Rachel), Tommy Boyd, Louis Boyd (Sarah), Haley Boyd (Nick Ahlquist), Will Boyd (Maya Bassuk), and Katherine Boyd (Alana Tartaro), and four great-grandchildren, Harper Nusser, Thor Nusser, Kallen Boyd, and Connor Nusser. Susan is also survived by her brother, Henry (Marti), and many nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by her husband, Sandy, and her sisters, Helen and Barbara.

The family is deeply grateful to the wonderful staff at Oaknoll whose warmth and kindness, unfailing devotion, and endless generosity ensured Susan’s comfort in her last three years.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to the Susan Kuehn Boyd Iowa Writers’ Fellowship Fund at the University of Iowa Center for Advancement or Table to Table. Online condolences at www.lensingfuneral.com or to PO Box 167, Iowa City, IA 52244.