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Susanne Elsaesser Lassen - b. Youngstown, Ohio

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Susanne Elsaesser Lassen - b. Youngstown, Ohio

Posted: 23 May 2015 11:06AM GMT
Classification: Obituary
Surnames: Elsaesser
GREENVILLE, DEL. - Susanne Elsaesser Lassen, 99, pioneer descendant, formerly of Youngstown, Ohio,died peacefully at her home on Monday, May 18, 2015.

Born in Youngstown, Ohio on Oct. 8, 1915, at her family home at 509 Wick Ave., she was the daughter of Dr. Armin Emil Elsaesser, a prominent Youngstown surgeon from Switzerland, and Helen Wick Ford of Youngstown, and was the granddaughter of John Stambaugh Ford and Harriet Wick.
She was a member of the Wick, Tod, Ford and Stambaugh industrial pioneer families of Youngstown, whose forebearers were among the first settlers of Youngstown in the early 1800s, and helped establish and develop the iron, steel and coal industries in the Mahoning Valley and nearby Pennsylvania.
She grew up at her family’s home, Shadow Run, in Woodworth, and attended the Yale School in Youngstown.
An equestrian and an artist, she was a graduate of Miss Holmquist’s School in New Hope, PA., where she was the captain of both the school’s equestrian team and its field hockey team.

She later graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, where she pursued her interests in painting and sculpture.
A member of the Mill Creek Riding Club and the Mahoning Saddle and Bridle Association, she was active in the 1920s and 1930s, on the horse show circuit, both locally and in the east, and is especially remembered exhibiting with her father, where they won many pair class championships showing their saddle horses.

She was also well-known for her oil paintings that were displayed at many local museums and galleries.

On Jan. 28, 1939, she married Danish-born Kai Kierulff Lassen of Toronto, an executive of Canada Steamship Lines, later a Youngstown businessman, who predeceased her in 1989.

Near the end of World War II, she returned to Youngstown with her husband, where they resided for over 40 years. In Youngstown, she served as a trustee of the Butler Institute of American Art and as a vice president of the Mahoning Valley Historical Society.

She was a member of the Youngstown Hospital Association, the Women’s Association of the First Presbyterian Church, the Junior League, the Youngstown Garden Club, and the Youngstown Club.
She was also a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Colonial Dames, and the Colonial Dames 17th Century.
She moved to Wilmington, Delaware, in 1988, to live near her son and his family and one of her daughters.

She is survived by her three children, her son, John Kai Lassen, his wife, Marion McConnell Lassen, of Greenville; and her daughter, Christiana Ford Lassen and her partner, Marilyn Pires, of Long Beach, Calif., and her daughter, Helen Susanne Lassen and her partner, Marsha Bienia, of Easton, Md.; her four grandchildren, Christian Kierulff Lassen of Philadelphia, Laura Wick Lassen Fox of Greenville; William du Pont Lassen of Centreville, Delaware and James Tyler Lassen of Greenville; and five great-grandchildren.

She is also survived by her brother, Emil Peter Elsaesser of St. Louis, and was predeceased by her two brothers, John Ford Elsaesser and Armin Emil Elsaesser Jr.

She will be remembered for her kindness and gentleness to all, her strong devotion to her family, her love of animals, especially her corgi dogs, and her love of birds.

Funeral services and interment will be at the Wick family grave site at Oak Hill Cemetery.

Her family requests that memorial gifts be sent to the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, 648 Wick Ave., Youngstown, OH 44502.

Please visit www.chandlerfuneralhome.com to leave online condolences.
The Chandler Funeral Homes and Crematory, 2506 Concord Pike, Wilmington, (302) 478-7100, is handling the arrangements. - See more at: http://www.vindy.com/news/tributes/#sthash.fN1zJRST.dpuf

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