Sue Wagner

On Saturday September 14, 2019 Sue Christensen Wagner left this life in the same way she lived it. The classic extrovert, Sue was going to the lake on a gorgeous Texas afternoon surrounded by the loves of her life. Her son and daughter-in-law, Kurt and Marilyn Wagner, had just flown in from Phoenix and got to spend some time with her at Grapevine Medical Lodge. She was feeling better and had her hair done and wanted to go out to eat. Karen joined them and them they were off on the adventure. Sue was smiling and waving to her friends and breathing in all the good things Earth had to offer her that day, thinking about the ducks she was going to see and the shrimp she was going to eat. And then she was gone. In Sue fashion, she moved on quickly to the next adventure. An extraordinary life well lived.

A Celebration of Life will be held October 5, 2 p.m. at Lucas Funeral Home on Wall St. in Grapevine, Texas. The family has requested friends and family wear the bright colors Sue loved. Memorials can be sent to the Alzheimer’s Foundation. Inurnment will be at the Horseshoe Bay Mausoleum on Monday, October 7.

Sue Christensen was born October 11, 1932 in the early morning of a cold Nebraska day. Her parents,
Henry and Helen Christensen, were childless. But on that life changing morning someone left an hours old Sue, carefully swaddled in a tomato basket, on their front porch in Fremont. She had a happy, wanted and loved existence in the town where her family owned the local drugstore and her father was the pharmacist. Flash forward 83 years, and Ancestry and 23AndMe DNA linked Sue to the biological family she had never known. Even better, they were living close by in Watauga, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. She met her new found sibling, a half-sister, as well as nieces, nephews and cousins in a wonderful gathering outside of Tulsa. Her story was complete.

Sue graduated from Fremont High School in 1950 with a great group of friends otherwise known as the Fabulous 50’s. That group had many sleigh rides, ice skating adventures, and trips to the lake, just to name a few. Sue even took up golf. Even now they still have fabulous reunions and a group of twelve of them have traveled the country and the Caribbean together. After graduating from Midland College with a history major and education minor, Sue taught school in Colorado Springs, Colorado for one year. Sue went on a trip to Europe on the Queen Mary prior to her impending marriage to purchase a trousseau. She married Richard Allan Wagner, the love of her life and the man who kept her laughing for 40 years. They raised two children in the Chicago suburbs where Sue was a stay at home housewife and then was a substitute teacher in Arlington Heights and Dick had a long career with Standard Oil. Those were happy days as she loved the hustle and bustle of school and family life. Her sense of humor and energy turned life into a daily party of animal and kid stories, pot luck group dinners, hosting foreign exchange students, being a listening ear for young people, cocktail parties, lifelong friendships, bridge games, and other things that she found on life’s never ending smorgasbord.

Sue and Dick retired to Horseshoe Bay near Austin, TX in 1985. They continued their active social life including golf, bridge, church choir, parades, Republican Club, bell choir, CASA volunteer and fabulous parties and made friendships that were still in place. Dick had the fiftieth heart transplant performed at Seton Hospital in Austin in 1991. He died in 1996.

Her exuberance for life continued and she moved to Robson Ranch in Denton, TX in 2006. Everyone at Robson knew Sue. She was in bridge groups, sang in the choir, hosted multiple parties in her home, participated in the Red Hats, wine tasting groups, dinner clubs and the Robson Ranch Republican Women’s Club. She was also an active member of Argyle Methodist Church. That she used a walker because of neuropathy was never an inconvenience to Sue. Her intrepid and fun personality made it feel like everyone should have a walker too!

The last five years, Sue lived in North Richland Hills even closer to Karen and DFW Airport so she could fly into Arizona to visit Kurt and Marilyn’s family. She was overjoyed to have a great grandson and unfortunately will not be able to welcome the next great grandchild that is on the way. She had many lively conservations with her “table” at Meadowlakes. The last six months Sue lived at Grapevine Medical Lodge.

Sue is survived by daughter, Karen Wagner Donegan of Grapevine; son, Kurt Wagner (Marilyn) of Gilbert, AZ, six grandchildren: Briana (Jake) of Gilbert, AZ, Colleen Mahanna (Joe) and great grandson Mason of Elk Grove Village, IL, Joseph Donegan of Grapevine, Peter Donegan of Austin, Stephen Donegan of Austin and Austin Wagner of Gilbert, AZ, sisters: Mary Lou Diers (Charles) of Fremont, NE and Virginia Herout of Broken Arrow, OK and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.