Susan Elizabeth Lyons

Susan Lyons passed peacefully on August 19, 2024, with David Stillman, her partner of 53 years, by her side. Susan was a radiant force of nature, a beloved wife, mother, friend, and therapist whose life was cut short by Alzheimer's Disease. 

Susan was born an only child in California on May 5, 1951. Growing up in the Bay Area, Susan was a Beatlemaniac and proudly recounted attending the band's final ever concert in 1965 at Candlestick Park. She also embraced the hippie movement, taking day trips to Haight/Ashbury as a teen. 

Susan went to college at UC Berkeley where she met the love of her life, David Stillman. They were married in 1973, and moved to San Diego for graduate school. Susan received a Masters in Social Work degree, earn an L.C.S.W. license, and was trained as a psychotherapist. Their first son, Andrew was born in 1984 in San Diego, and several months later the family moved to Cambridge, England where they lived for two years. Their second son Matt was born in 1986 in England a few months before they moved to Salt Lake City. 

With her kindness and empathy, Susan was a wonderful therapist, supporting hundreds of patients in her Salt Lake private practice over 30 years. A passionate feminist, Susan helped many women in difficult situations through her practice. Susan was a social justice advocate and she focused much of her practice on providing care for patients in the LGBTG and HIV/AIDS communities, ultimately helping to found the LGBTQ-Affirmative Therapist Guild of Utah. An activist and ally she regularly marched in Salt Lake City's Pride parade. 

Susan was a leader in her professional community. In 1989, Susan joined Women in Private Practice (WPP), a monthly education and networking meeting of about 20 therapists. Within a few years, Susan took over running the group and oversaw its growth to a vibrant organization of more than 500 members who use this resource to share insights and referrals. Always looking to give back to her community, Susan was also an active mentor to dozens of younger therapists. 

In addition to WPP, Susan was the co-coordinator for the Utah chapter of the Association for Women in Psychology (AWP), including in 2013 when she helped the chapter host the national AWP conference in Salt Lake City. She was also the chair of the Women's Issues Committee of the Utah Chapter of NASW, a clinical faculty member of the University of Utah's Department of Social Work, and worked with the campus Women's Resource Center. 

Susan was an outstanding cook and loved entertaining, whether a breakfast meeting for colleagues or a gourmet French dinner for friends. An avid traveler, Susan would excitedly recount memorable meals she had eaten on vacations many years earlier. She also loved cats (occasionally musing that she might get a Ph.D. in cat behavior), and reading mysteries. 

Susan was a positive force. She always saw the best side of other people and somehow she always made other people better people. With a radiant smile and a beautiful heart, she touched the lives of countless friends, family members, patients, and professional peers. 

Susan's death was preceded by that of her parents, Nick Lyons and Merle Leedy Lyons, and her sister-in-law Margie Stillman Gregory. She is survived by son Andrew Stillman (partner Kevin Liu) of San Francisco, son Matt Stillman of Salt Lake City, sister-in-law Michele Stillman of Boulder Creek, CA, and husband of 51 years David Stillman of Salt Lake City. 

Please consider donations to the Human Rights Campaign or to Reproductive Freedom for All, causes Susan strongly supported. 

Information on A Celebration of Life is here: https://susanlyons.org