Susan "Suki" Morrissey

Susan "Suki" Morrissey

Mount Vernon

Susan “Suki” Morrissey, 77, of Cedar Rapids, formerly of Mount Vernon, passed away Monday, Dec. 13, 2021, at Grand Living, Cedar Rapids, following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Join the family in a Celebration of Life on Saturday, June 18, 2022, 11 a.m. at the United Methodist Church of Mount Vernon.

Susan Kay Smith was born Sept. 2, 1944, in New York, to Donald and Kveta (Vondracek) Smith. She grew up in Cedar Rapids and attended Washington High School where she graduated in 1962. Suki received her Bachelor’s from the University of Utah, where she studied dance and belonged to the Tri Delta sorority. Suki became a step-mom to three children, Greg, Kerry, and Melissa, in her early 20s when she married Tim Morrissey in August 1966.

Dancing ballet was an integral part of Suki’s life. In addition to dancing professionally with many groups including Dieman & Bennett Dance Theatre of the Hemispheres and a traveling dance company, she was a dance teacher and Ballet Academy instructor. Suki was a well-known and friendly face, recognizable as the Nutcracker's Sugar Plum Fairy at the Paramount in Cedar Rapids and from greeting everyone at Allie’s Emporium in Mount Vernon, as well as Van Sickle’s Women’s Collective in downtown Cedar Rapids. She was a member of the Entre Nous book club and the United Methodist Church in Mount Vernon where she sang in the choir and taught the liturgical dance, and the Czech & Slovak Society.

Suki enjoyed Elvis and Robert Redford, traveling, doing cross-stitch in her younger years, Gazette crossword puzzles, and entertaining. She was very festive as she hosted holiday parties for her family. She didn’t cook, with the exception of chicken spaghetti— everyone’s favorite. Suki was known as a bubbly, funny, entertaining woman, who will be missed by her loving family.

Survivors include children, Greg (Karen) Morrissey, Melissa (Ryan) Morrissey, Alison (James) Egolf and Shanna (Ryan) Cooper; grandchildren, Kyle, Kelsey, Dylan, Owen, Noah, Sienna, Addison and Tatum; great-grandchildren, Brecken, Kerrigan and Ashton; many friends and extended family.

She was preceded in death by her parents; stepdaughter, Kerry Duffy; former spouse, Tim Morrissey; and significant other, John Schenken.

The family would like to extend a special thank-you to the entire staff at Home Instead Senior Care, Grand Living, and St. Croix Hospice for their amazing love and care of Suki. Memorials may be made to the Alzheimer's Association or National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library.

The family asks that you please share your support, memories, and stories with them on Suki's tribute wall under obituaries at stewartbaxter.com.