In Memoriam: Suzanna Laurent

Memories of Suzanna and a Reminder of Who She Was

By Linda Oestreich | Fellow

Suzanna Laurent, Former STC President

28 December 1942–26 December 2011

My first memory of Suzanna dates back to 1999. She was the Director-Sponsor for Region 5 and I was on the admin council for the Houston Chapter. (At one time, STC had eight regions—each region voted for a director to sit on the Society’s Board of Directors.) She would occasionally visit Houston and I would attend her presentations. I was not impressed. In fact, I was put off by her “grandmotherly” demeanor, her heavy Oklahoma accent, and her overall fashion sense. I was a snob. She was genuine. Lucky for me, I let go of those first impressions and grew to love, admire, respect, and emulate her. It didn’t take me long to realize that she was a consummate professional, a phenomenal leader, and a great champion of technical communication.

Suzanna’s term as Region 5 DS lasted until 2002, and I was her successor. I still have hundreds of files that she gave me to help me understand my new duties and keep track of all that went on in our seven-state region. Throughout my three-year term, I kept Suzanna’s phone number on speed dial because I often needed her wisdom to keep me from insanity!

Not too much later, I was elected to the Society’s Board of Directors in the presidential chain—two years behind her. And, once again, she became my mentor and our friendship grew. She and I did presentations together; we talked for hours on the phone about families, careers, and STC; and we brainstormed about anything and everything tech comm.

Suzanna Laurent was an STC Fellow who served seven years on STC’s Board of Directors, culminating with Society President in 2005–2006. Suzanna was also selected as one of the Top Ten Women in the nation by the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) for her outstanding career achievements. She presented more than 140 chapter programs, leadership workshops, keynotes, and sessions at more than 44 STC conferences from Toronto to Hawaii. She also received the first-ever STC Volunteer of the Year award at the annual conference in 2006.

Suzanna was a technical communicator since earning her degree in 1986 (after raising four children and being a stay-at-home mom!). In recent years, she began her own company and served as president of the Communications Design Group in Mustang, OK. She won tech pubs competitions and earned both regional and national awards as a newsletter editor. She was an excellent project manager and, not surprisingly, a great multitasker. She had a knack for leadership and always showed a “can-do” spirit.

When she died, folks on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn sang her praises—here is one LinkedIn recommendation, from Rahel Bailie, that describes Suzanna perfectly: “While Suzanna and I were on the board of the STC, she found herself taking the helm during a particularly challenging transition. In her thoughtful and careful way of leading, she steered the organization through some extremely choppy waters. Her steadiness, discretion, and integrity were definitely key aspects of her leadership style, which allowed her to bring in the right people for support and manage to ‘turn the ship’ successfully.” (For other comments about Suzanna, please see the STC Notebook notice of her death and the ensuing comments at http://notebook.stc.org/in-memoriam-suzanna-laurent-1942%E2%80%932011/.)

We knew her as a member of STC, but she was also as much of a leader in ABWA. The following list of her honors and awards attests to her accomplishments in both organizations:

• 2008 Fellow, STC
• 2008 Boss of the Year, ABWA
• 1999 and 2007, National Newsletter Award, ABWA
• 2003–2007 Presidential Chain, Board of Directors, STC
• 1999–2002 Region 5 Director-Sponsor, STC
• 1997 Top Ten Woman of the Year (nationally), ABWA
• 1988 District III Vice President, Board of Directors, ABWA

In my online search about Suzanna, I found this poem at the end of a presentation entitled “Achieving It All,” that she gave many years ago. It fits her life:

Within our reach lies every path we ever dream of taking,
Within our power lies every step we ever dream of making,
Within our range lies every joy we ever dream of seeing … and,
Within ourselves lies everything we ever dream of being!

My heart is heavy that we have lost this giant of our organization. Nonetheless, I am honored to have known her, to have worked at her side, to have been her friend, and to have learned that first impressions are often 180 degrees wrong.