Suzanne Angelina Schaeffer passed away on August 13, 2023. She was 52 years old. She is survived by her father, Gary Schaeffer, her sons, Coda Boggs and Steven Waxon, her brother Robert Mylle and sister Maria Boggs. Her mother, Lucia Schaeffer preceded her in death on April 19, 2012.
Suzanne was a very active and funny kid. She and her sister would put on comedy shows for their parents. As Maria tells it, "She was always funnier than me, and made my parents laugh harder than I could."
She loved horses. Her love of horses motivated her to get one of her own. She would wander around neighborhoods and introduce herself to home owners that had a horse, and offer to clean stalls and care for them in exchange for rides. By the time she was 14 she was given a free pony by a family, which she nurtured into a good health and sold for $200. She used that money to buy another horse, sold that one for $800 and bought her last horse. She did this completely unaided by her parents or anyone else. Talk about resourceful and driven.
Suzanne struggled with mental health and substance issues, and as time went on they became too intrusive. In honor of this, we ask that you remember Suzanne fondly from the days before her condition took control of her life. We are hopeful that she is now finally at peace.
We also ask that, the next time that you encounter a homeless person, try to remember that they may not be able to help themselves. Remember that the person is a human being, and probably someone's sister, mom, aunt, uncle, brother, dad, cousin. Remember that it isn't just about "doing drugs," or "not wanting to work" but rather many factors that took place over the course of time in a progressive manner to bring this person to their current place. We know that, at least in Suzanne's case, it wasn't a "choice." The next time you see the homeless, if you happen to catch yourself thinking "They just need treatment/to get a job/to stay with a relative for a while/to go into an institution," we challenge and encourage you to remember Suzanne's story. It is just not that simple. It is so much more complicated than that