Susan M. Perez

Susan Marie Perez, age 49, passed away peacefully on July 29, 2024 after many years living with cancer. She was a beloved daughter, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, comadre, and friend. She loved furry friends, good books, crafting, praise music, and cooking for her loved ones. She loved cute, silly trinkets. Anyone who visited her home will remember her fun collections of Minions, Grease Barbies, poop emojis, and more, all arranged with care. She liked fun stuff, but the loved ones who gave her that stuff mattered to her most of all.

Susan was the first child of Robert and Sara Perez, born August 16, 1974 in Mesa. She was big sis to Teresa, Sandra, and Robert. She was an Arizona girl through and through. Susan was educated in Chandler schools, graduated Chandler High in 1992, and attended Arizona State University. 

Susan loved being a mom to Tyler, Victor, Mariana, Emma, Noa and Jaxon. Becoming Noni (grandma) was one of the most important moments of her life. Her love for children showed not just as a parent and grandparent, but also through her relationships with her nieces and nephews, as a godmother, and as an honorary auntie to the children of her friends and family. 

Susan’s most proud professional achievement was the five years she spent working for Rise Arizona, where she helped many aspiring parents become foster and adoptive families. She retired from foster care work in order to care for her own growing family, but she continued to assist other foster and adoptive parents through her role as a certified CPR instructor and through various support groups and parenting networks. Susan never returned to full-time work because her second round of cancer made that impossible, but she got to enjoy other titles that meant the world to her: Mom, Momma Sue, Noni, M.I.L., BFF, Comadre, Nina.

Susan was passionate about her faith. She spent many years as an active member of City of Grace/Hillsong Church, and for the last two years she was a member of Bethel, where she made her final church home on the Bethel Sonrise Campus as a committed church volunteer. She lived according to one of her favorite scriptures, I Corinthians Chapter 13, which reminds us that Love Never Fails. No matter what challenges hard-hearted people or traumatic life events or even cancer put in her path, Susan never turned her back on love. She was determined to count her blessings more loudly than she counted her hurts. 

After her first round of battling breast cancer, Susan felt strongly about sharing her experience with others in the hope that it would help someone else. Over the years, she helped many other cancer patients and survivors by sharing her stories, her lessons, her love, and her prayers. When her cancer came back years later as metastatic breast cancer, it became important to her to help people understand how underfunded metastatic breast cancer research is. With this in mind, her loved ones ask that you support one of her three chosen charities in her memory: Metavivor, Desert Cancer Foundation, and MD Anderson Cancer Center (Banner). You may use friendssincefifth@gmail.com as the notification email if you wish to inform the family of your gift, but anonymous gifts are also welcome. 

Susan’s final post on Facebook, just days before her passing, reads, “My circle may be small, but the people in it mean everything to me.” But Susan touched more people than she realized. Her life was more like countless circles encompassing so many people and making all of our lives better for the time we spent with her.