Obituary of Susan Ziegenbusch
A memorial service for Susan Ziegenbusch, 71, of Spirit Lake, will be held Saturday, June 18, 2022 at 10:30 AM at First Presbyterian Church in Spirit Lake. To watch the live stream of the service, click the link: http://www.fpcspiritlake.org/stream. Burial will be at Lakeview Gardens Cemetery. A visitation for Susan will be held Friday, June 17th from 4:00-7:00 PM at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Spirit Lake.
Susan Kay (Walston) Ziegenbusch, the daughter of Dean and Kathleen (Barnhart) Walston, was born on April 25, 1951, in Manchester, Iowa. After graduating from West Delaware High, Sue, as her family and friends call her, set her sights on the University of Northern Iowa where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology.
After meeting the love of her life in Manchester, Sue was united in marriage to John Ziegenbusch on March 1, 1975. Throughout their marriage Sue and John lived in Maquoketa, Spirit Lake, and eventually Ames, Iowa before retiring back to their home in Spirit Lake.
Sue’s professional journey was diverse but one thing was consistent, she was always helping people. Most recently, Sue worked as an academic advisor for Iowa State University in Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering. This role brought Sue much fulfillment for the joy of helping students and the alignment of academic interest.
Sue was an active member of the lakes community and could often be found participating in clubs, volunteering, or taking advantage of the trail system in preparation for her many years riding in RAGBRAI – 13 in total. Susan was a member of the Dickinson County Trails Board, Okoboji Bike Club, Indians Hills Golf League, American Red Cross Blood Mobile, and served as PEO Chapter BE President. She’s also a member of the First Presbyterian Church, where she served as a session member.
Sue was a woman of many talents and hobbies. She was an avid reader, enjoyed jigsaw puzzles, playing golf, mahjong, cross-stitching, quilting, and playing train dominoes with the grandchildren. A lover of the outdoors, she enjoyed daily walks to Templar Park, fishing off the dock on Big Spirit Lake, and making s’mores around the fire pit with family.
Sue passed away on June 1, 2022, at Lakes Regional Healthcare at 71 years of age after a brief and rapid course of illness from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. She was accepted into the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio in order to advance medical research of her rare disease.
Sue is survived by her husband, John Ziegenbusch; her daughter Amy Webber, and her husband Larry Jr., and their children Katherine, Hayden, Laurel, and Boden; her daughter Betsy Mudd, and her husband Andrew; and her brother, Dr. Dennis Walston and his husband, John Work. Sue is preceded in death by her mother and father, Dean and Kathleen Walston.