Susan Mary Jones passed away peacefully on Sunday, March 9, 2014 after a long battle with cancer. Susan was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to George Russell and Audrey Faye (Martin) Gillpatrick on March 12, 1947. After the sudden loss of her father at the age of 6 months, her mother married Robert Sasse who raised her as his own daughter. She was the second of four daughters, Nancy, Barbara, and Becky. Susan graduated from George Washington Senior High School, Cedar Rapids, Iowa and attended the University of Utah where she earned a Bachelor's degree and later a Master's degree in Public Administration. She married Jay Kent Jones and had two children, Nathaniel and Heidi, but later divorced. Susan worked for the Utah Department of Public Safety investigating Medicaid fraud for over 20 years before transferring to the Securities Division of the Department of Commerce where she investigated Securities fraud.
Susan was an avid Scouter and thoroughly loved the outdoors where she spent many summers camping and hiking with her children and Scout Troop 51 of Sandy. She spent many years as an Assistant Scoutmaster and Scoutmaster of the troop. She enjoyed and studied Aikido with the Petersen Family Dojo in Sandy where she also taught a children's Aikido class which focused on self-defense geared for younger children. Susan remained active even after her diagnosis of cancer. She earned her Sho Dan, the first level of black belt and travelled to many Aikido summer camps. Her travels with family and friends took her to many beautiful places, the British Isles, the island of Okinawa in Japan, Alaska and surrounding islands, as well as visiting her children, grandchildren, and sisters, cousins, nieces and nephews.
Susan is survived by her two children Lt Col Nathaniel (Yuko) Jones and Heidi (Michael) Stoddard; her three grandchildren, Amelia Stoddard, Evelyn Stoddard, and Taiki Jones; and her sisters, Nancy Cross of Hamtramck, MI; Barbara (Steve) Kilfoil of Columbia, MO and Becky (Dennis) Holcomb of Longmont, CO.
Services honoring Susan will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, 15 March 2014 at Larkin Sunset Gardens, 1950 East 10600 South in Sandy. Family and friends may share memories of Susan online at www.larkincares.com. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Susan G. Komen foundation for the cure against breast cancer or the Boy Scouts of America.
