Susan Semrau

Susan Semrau, 70, passed away Thursday, November 3, 2016 at Legend Assisted Living, a caring and loving community in Oklahoma City after battling cancer for four years. In hospice care for a week prior to her death, Susan died peacefully in her sleep. Daughter of Harvey and Rachel Holmes, the second of four children. From her birth in McPherson, Kansas on January 1, 1946 (the first New Year’s baby at McPherson Hospital) to her death last Thursday she nourished people around her with love, faith, art, and music. By the age of fifteen, Susan started playing the bass clarinet in the Maysville band. She continued to play the bass clarinet for 55 years, last playing with the Oklahoma City Symphony Band with her closest friends. Susan and her siblings grew up in a family that loved to play bridge. They often played through the night and only stopped to get kids to school the next day. Susan was also a regular member of a poker group that played every Friday. While unorthodox in her play, she managed to win several times. One of her last adventures was with her son, Byron. He took Susan to the State Fair of Oklahoma this year so they could sample the food and experience the fair. Susan always had fresh flowers by her bed that her husband brought on a regular basis. Susan grew up in Maysville, Oklahoma and graduated valedictorian of her class in 1964. She graduated with a BS in Mathematics and a BA in Art in 1969 from Oklahoma State University and was a lifelong Oklahoma State fan. Following her graduation Susan joined the Peace Corps and served in the Philippines for two years. Upon her return, she worked in Chicago where she later met her husband. She and Marvin Semrau were married on May 1, 1976 in Evanston, Illinois. They moved to Norman in 1982 where she worked the last 23 years as a Senior Software Engineer, first at Unisys and then Molina Healthcare. She continued working during her illness until May of this year. Susan’s loving and generous spirit continues to touch lives. It was her desire that when she passed on, if she could help improve or even save someone's life by donating her body, we would honor and respect her wishes. Left to honor Susan and remember her love is her husband Marvin and their child, Byron; brothers Bill and his wife Pat Holmes of Loganville, Georgia; and Alan and his wife Chris Holmes of Kingston, Oklahoma; her sister Ann and her husband Galen Osburn of Norman Oklahoma; and her nieces and nephews. Susan was preceded in death by her parents. The family would like to extend our gratitude to her sister Ann Osburn, who cared for Susan the four years she battled this disease, Dr. Kathleen Moore at the Peggy Stevenson Cancer Center who treated her with such compassion, and the attentiveness and care of Legend Assisted Living for her final week of care. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Susan’s name to the Peggy Stevenson Cancer Center. A memorial service will be held Friday, November 11, 2016 at 10:00 am at St. Marks Church, 3939 W Tecumseh Rd, Norman Oklahoma, with Rev. Robert Wood officiating. The family will greet friends immediately following the memorial at Ann Osburn’s home. Words of comfort may be sent to the family at www.winansfuneralhome.com