Obituaries

Sue Schulze, 100, of Sherman, Texas, Good Hart, Michigan, and formerly Greeley, Colorado, died peacefully on September 12, 2022. She was born in Detroit, Michigan, on January 14, 1922, to Alfred Gapps Sims and Christina Stringer Sims.

Sue was married to Robert Oscar Schulze from 1948 until his death in 1999. Later, she and Bob Stern (a widower and old college sweetheart) looked after each other until he died a few years ago. Sue said, ‘When I call him Bob by mistake, it’s OK.’

She attended the University of Michigan on scholarship and later earned master’s degrees in political science and library science. After raising their children and supporting her husband’s career at Brown University and the Thomas J. Watson Foundation, she became a professional archivist and government documents librarian, retiring from a tenured professorship at the University of Northern Colorado in 1989. During her library career, she published the definitive works on the vast information available in 19 th and 20 th Century US censuses. She also became a leading expert on the newspaper editor, presidential candidate, and US Congressman Horace Greeley.

Sue was heavily involved in civic life. She helped edit massive University of Michigan yearbooks as an undergraduate, served on the Michigan and Rhode Island state boards of the League of Women Voters and the Rhode Island board of the American Civil Liberties Union, was president of the Joint Legislative Council of Rhode Island, was appointed by the governor to the Rhode Island House of Representatives reapportionment commission, was her district’s 1992 Democratic candidate for the Colorado state legislature (running on a platform of universal health care, educational excellence, and prison reform), served multiple elected terms on the board of the Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association, and was active in numerous other civic and historical organizations in Providence, Rhode Island, Emmet County, Michigan, and Weld County, Colorado. She was also a watercolorist, a master gardener, and enjoyed hosting dinner parties.

She is survived by her son Peter Schulze of Sherman, Texas, her daughter Elizabeth Sauter of Greeley, Colorado, and four grandchildren, Ben and Matt Schulze and Steven and Rachel Sauter.

Sue was fortunate to have wonderful care from Dr. Phil Pitts and his staff, Preston Place, Home Hospice of Grayson County, and 7 Sisters Care, all of Sherman, Texas. Special thanks go to friends and caregivers Pat Clarke, Dorothy Cross, Susan Glass, Stephanie Guyor, Katharine Hildebrand, Donna Husing, Stephanie McNutt, Teri and Eric Moody, Margie Morris, Nita Pitts, Barry and Margie Rothaus, and Alice Woodruff.

A celebration of Sue’s life will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greeley, Colorado (and simultaneously over Zoom) at 5:00 PM Mountain Time on October 15, 2022. Receptions to follow will be held in Greeley and Sherman, and early next August in Good Hart, Michigan. Please check the Dannel Funeral Home website https://dannelfuneralhome.com/obituaries/ for the Zoom link and reception details. Condolences may be left at the funeral home website. In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution to the Petoskey and Harbor Springs (Michigan) Area Community Foundation, the League of Women Voters, Home Hospice of Grayson County, or the charity of your choice.

The Zoom link will be available from one hour early. Participants will initially be placed in a ‘waiting room’ and then let in by one of the Zoom hosts. That may take a few moments. Please click the link to join the meeting a few minutes before 4:00 Central Time. Anyone who has difficulty connecting should call 303-882-6490.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86555729915

Receptions following service:

Gatherings immediately following the service will be held at 1814 Reservoir Rd, Greeley, Colorado and 416 Ridgeview Rd, Sherman, Texas.