Suzanne Malve Conklin Happ was born October 17, 1913, in Warsaw, Poland, to Solomon Malve and Manya Lak. Fleeing conscription into the German army and without knowing that his young wife was pregnant with their second child, Sol left Poland and made his way to The Netherlands, where he was able to board a ship for the United States of America. Three years later, Manya joined her husband with her two small children in New York City. Initially living in a Hester Street tenement with four other families in the heart of the city's immigrant community, Manya moved Sol and their children first to 118th Street and then to Long Island, where the family finally settled. Sol became a pattern maker in a New York City garment factory, and Manya rented, bought, and sold real estate while Suzanne and her sister Sydell grew up on the boardwalks of Coney Island.
After graduating from high school, Suzanne completed a one-year secretarial course and landed a job filling out forms with a small insurance company. When she realized she could "do this job with my head cut off", she turned her considerable energy to landing a spot in a premier college and was accepted into the University of Michigan. Upon arrival, and without much forethought, Suzanne entered the school of music with the vague idea of becoming a vocal teacher. She signed up for piano lessons with the head of the department, Joseph Brinkman, a defining moment in her life, and discovered her passion and love of music, which she shared with all who studied with her and knew her for the rest of her life. When Suzanne met the irreverent and talented Jack Webster Conklin, another student of Mr. Brinkman, she found a teacher, confidant, and true love. They were married December 18, 1938. During World War II, Jack was a Navy commander working on code breaking in the nation's capital.
Following the war, they had three children, George Webster, and twin daughters, Ferol Malve and Elizabeth Malve. Jack remained working with the National Security Administration after the war, and Suzanne performed and taught piano in the Washington, D. C., area. In 1955 Jack died of a heart attack at the age of 47, leaving Suzanne with three children under the age of 10. Later that year, with the help of Pansy Hutchinson, Jo Ellis, and others, Suzanne drove the family to Cedar Falls, where she accepted a job as music professor at the Iowa State Teachers College, now the University of Northern Iowa, and continued her concert career. In 1959 she met and married her handsome and athletic next door neighbor, William Peter Happ, Jr. (Doc), who stole her heart while playing and singing jazz standards on Suzanne's grand piano. The two were happily married for thirty-nine years, building two houses together, traveling the world, and community organizing wherever they lived, leaving behind a public boat ramp, community library and senior center, a concert association, and scholarship funds for young pianists.
In 1971, tragedy struck when her son George, who had survived naval duty in the Viet Nam War, was killed in an automobile accident while driving to ride his beloved trains with his best friend, Jonathan Page. Throughout her years as a teacher, Suzanne had a profound impact on the careers of her students, giving generously of herself and her knowledge and opening the door of her home to those with the sense of humor, drive, and talent to accept her invitation. Suzanne was interested in people, politics, gardening, food, bridge, and literature and loved nothing more than to put her feet up in front of the fire on a cold winter night and discuss the problems of the world. She was a gifted actress and singer. "Miss Otis Regrets" was not to be missed, and until her final days, she would recite the Gettysburg Address, reminding us of what our country stands for. Students became friends, and friends became family, as they gathered year after year in Duck Lake, Michigan, to celebrate the New Year.
In 1984, Sue and Bill moved to Green Valley, Arizona. In 1999, Bill died of cancer in their home. In 2002 Suzanne moved into Silver Springs, an independent retirement community in Green Valley. Many a person visited her on her patio looking over the sculpted green of the golf course to the Santa Rita Mountains. Suzanne pioneered the use of golf carts as viable transportation for women, showing by example that women, too, could drive their golf carts around town. In 2005 Suzanne decided to move to Castro Valley, California, to save her daughters air fare and took an apartment in another independent retirement community. Finally, in 2007, after some serious begging from her kids, Suzanne agreed to live with Beth and her partner, Pat Armer, in a beautiful apartment in Point Richmond, California. Dubbed "Club Med," the three lived very happily on the San Francisco Bay until Suzanne's death on March 22, 2008. Suzanne will be remembered not only for her fiery left hand when playing Beethoven, but for her inquisitive mind, her thoughtful and insightful advice, her broad shoulders, her feistiness, and her all-embracing love. She was truly loved and will be missed by her daughters, Ferol and Beth Conklin; her daughters-in-law, Martha Conklin-Fread, Pat Armer, and Alex Brashears; her adopted son, W. Kirk Happ; "the Driftwoods," Beverly J. DeLong-Tonelli, E. Beth Gilbert, and Elizabeth "Beth" Mosher; and all of the friends she made along the way.
Copyright Waterloo Courier, April 2, 2008, page A8.