Susan Agatha (Nerney) Schumann
Dec. 25, 1936-Jan. 1, 2018
Mountain View, California
Susan Agatha (Nerney) Schumann was born in San Francisco on Christmas Day, 1936, to Jack and Jelsy Nerney. She moved to Menlo Park at age 9 and resided there first with her parents and sister and then remained to raise her own family in the same house. She moved to Mountain View in 1996 and has been a resident there ever since. She passed away on New Year’s Day, 2018.
Susan was well known and loved by family and friends for her energetic demeanor, her smile and her "no nonsense" approach to life. She was an avid gardener and a devotee of nature and travel. In her spare time she nurtured an extensive rose garden and has traveled the globe.
Susan was a proud graduate of Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton. She went on to be a co-founder of the Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton Alumni Association and had been active in that Association for over 50 years. She received a bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame DeNamur in Belmont.
Family was very important to Susan. She is survived by five loving children from her previous marriage to the late Lloyd Rogers: Paul Rogers of Napa, Marc Rogers of Los Altos, Lori Amato of Watsonville, Andrew Rogers of Portland, Oregon, and Melanie Kunoa of Pacific Grove and was mother-in-law to Kathi Rogers, Marilyn Rogers, Dr. Zandra Amato, and Janet Kunoa. She is also survived by her eight grandchildren and six great-granddaughters.
Susan was also married for 18 years to the late Vernon Schumann. For the last 10 years Susan was the loving companion of Edward Irvin of Los Altos. They enjoyed opera, baseball and gardening together.
Susan held many important administrator positions during her work life to include assistant director of admissions for Sacred Heart Schools in Atherton and international conference coordinator for SRI International in Menlo Park, which provided many opportunities for extensive travel. She retired in 1998 as an administrator at Stanford University after serving for 13 years in the Office of Public Affairs, School of Humanities and Sciences, and Medical Development.
Susan generously donated to various causes and spent countless hours volunteering her time. She was past president of numerous organizations including the Music Guild at Stanford, The West Bay Opera Guild, The Garden Club of Los Altos, the Junior Native Daughters of the Golden West and the Henry and Maria Holt Memorial (Opera) Scholarship Committee. She also held numerous committee positions on the Friends of Filoli Leadership Committee such as publicity chair; co-chair, and house and garden docent.
Susan continued to be very active with the Sacred Heart Alumni Association, which she helped to start, as well as being very active with the Mid-Peninsula Widow and Widowers Association, holding the position of treasurer.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial donations be made to the American Cancer Society. A Celebration of Life will be held in the Ballroom at Filoli Gardens in Woodside, California on Monday, January 29th at 11am.
