Susan Kathleen (Davis) Wagner

February 27, 1943 - October 14, 2026

Susan Kathleen (Davis) Wagner, 83, formerly of Hollidaysburg, passed away Wednesday morning at The Residence at Carlisle.

She was born in Altoona, daughter of the late Floyd E. and Jean E. (Crum) Davis.

On November 26, 1964, she married Terry Lee Wagner, who preceded her in death May 23, 2013.

Susie is survived by two children, Amy C. Wagner-Elliot (Thomas) of Carlisle and Samuel E. Wagner (Tamara Auger) of Rockville, MD; three grandchildren: Liam J. Wagner, Evan L. Wagner, and Frederick W. “Fritz” Elliot; a brother, Gary A.; two sisters, Ellen E. Bradley and Sally C. Williams (Bob); and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by a sister-in-law, Carol and a brother-in-law, James.

Susie graduated from Hollidaysburg High School in 1961 and earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1965 from Indiana State Teachers College, where she was a member of the Phi Mu sorority. While a homemaker for many of her working age years, she made a house feel like home through at least twelve different moves over her lifetime with Terry's Army career. She always created a welcoming, immaculate and at the same time cozy house for her family and graciously invited guests. She tirelessly supported Terry in his Army career by volunteering in every military community in which they lived, hosting social events for his colleagues and embracing the constant change which the military presented. As a parent, Susie was kind, patient, nurturing, open-minded and open-hearted. She glowed with pride over her children’s and grandchildren’s accomplishments; they all live knowing she had unlimited interest in and love for them.

Susie also worked outside of the home, teaching 4th grade at Duncansville Elementary, doing bookkeeping in Gelnhausen, Germany, bookkeeping at Seasons Restaurant, owned by her dear friend Donna Hilling, and acting as administrative assistant at YMCA Children's Center in Hollidaysburg, an endeavor spearheaded by her niece Andrea Collins.

Outside of involvement in military communities, she and Terry also always found a church home wherever they lived. She was a longtime member of Zion Lutheran Church in Hollidaysburg and more recently First Lutheran Church in Carlisle, in addition to the many others wherever the family was stationed. She led a faith-filled life and taught by example what it meant to be a believer in God. She was always a member of the women's circle at church, often sang in the choir, participated in Bible study and Sunday School, served on altar guild, made quilts and collected personal care supplies, which were distributed to people in need both domestically and abroad. Complementing her Christian values, her curiosity about and support of ecumenical and interreligious relations was endless.

She and Terry supported many charitable organizations including giving through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran World Relief, Salvation Army, public radio, psoriasis and Parkinson’s foundations, and veterans organizations.

Susie's greatest loves were her husband, children, grandchildren and siblings. But she also was passionate about music- from the Beatles, ABBA, and Doobie Brothers, to organists Virgil Fox and Felix Hell, composers Bach and Mozart, and she was endlessly supportive of Sam's composing of original music and Amy's piano studies. Susie was a patron of and involved in the arts in her community, wherever she lived, and after coming home to Hollidaysburg in 1995, she joined Blair Concert Chorale and remained a singer there for 26 years.

Germany held a special place in Susie's heart. She lived there for eight years over three decades, she enjoyed German composers of orchestral music but especially of sacred organ music, she felt connected to her beliefs through the roots of the Lutheran church in Germany, and she loved the majestic Bavarian Alps. When living in Germany Susie and Terry immersed themselves in German culture, always learning, and in life she saw “other” as interesting and an opportunity to learn.

She delighted in cats of all kinds- short haired cats, long haired, rescue cats, purebreds, purebred rescues, lions, tigers, leopards-- all of them! Noting the similarities between big cats and pets, she loved to say, "Cat one is cat two." And of her pets she said, "They would eat us if they could," echoing the comical observation of her brother-in-law, Bob.

Susie had endearing nicknames for many of those closest to her, but her own unique nickname was Muppy, used by many and with an origin no one quite remembers but probably is attributed to Sam, customized by her nephew Andy to Susie-Muppy. She was the one and only Muppy.

Susie's family believes she has entered heaven and begun her pain-free eternal life, taking her Social Security and going to Bavaria like the hotel maid Johanna in the Eloise book, and dancing circles in an Alpine meadow to The Sound of Music.

Friends will be received from 10 a.m. until the noon funeral service on Friday, October 23, 2026, at Zion Lutheran Church, Hollidaysburg, with Pastor David Bowman officiating. Interment will be at Presbyterian Cemetery, Hollidaysburg. The family requests that donations in memory of Susie be made to Lutheran World Relief at: give.lwr.org.

Arrangements are by Plank, Stitt & Stevens Funeral Home, 421 Montgomery St., Hollidaysburg.

Condolences may be made at www.stevensfamilyfuneralhomes.com or Stevens Family Funeral Homes.