Susan Krauss

Susan Krauss built a life around compassion, spiritual practice, and community service. Known to friends as warm, smiling, and steady, she led workshops in meditation and relaxation and worked as a personal-growth consultant, helping others cultivate calm and resilience. Her faith and commitment to nonviolence reached beyond her circle: she was active in local women’s organizing in Brevard County and helped found a women’s outreach center, and she was involved with the National Organization for Women at the chapter level.

Friends and colleagues remember Susan as someone who “radiated” and who brought people together. She served as a delegate to a 1977 Soviet‑American citizens’ summit in Washington, and in later years she began writing a book profiling people in international peace and justice movements — a project that reflected a lifelong interest in connecting personal practice with social change. Those who knew her said she carried a deep faith and a practical, steady hope for a nonviolent world.

On December 28, 1988, Susan’s life was cut short. The loss was felt keenly in her community: friends held a memorial service in early January 1989 where her spiritual guide and others spoke about her devotion to peace and the steady kindness she offered to those around her. Her son and friends have continued to express the enduring questions and sorrow that come after such a loss, while also honoring the compassionate work she did in life.

Public records and local reporting about Susan make clear that she was more than the violent circumstances surrounding her death: she was a teacher, organizer, writer-in-progress, and a person who sought to help others find peace. Though many details of her daily life remain private, available sources show a woman committed to spiritual practice, social justice, and community — a presence her friends remembered for the warmth of her smile and the steadiness of her faith. Her memory lives on through those communities and causes she helped sustain, and through the friends and family who continue seeking answers about her death.