Suzanne Marie Hashagen Suzanne grew up in Danville in the days when more horses and cows lived in the Valley than people, and she fondly recalled childhood memories of building snowmen on Mount Diablo and sliding down hillsides on cardboard boxes in the summer. Born Aug. 28, 1949, in Oakland, she was the fourth child of John and Dorothy Howland. The family eventually settled in a new Danville subdivision, where neighborhood children gathered in the streets for games of kick-the-can, hide-and-seek and softball, their homes surrounded by acres of farmland. Relatives enjoyed traveling out to the "country" for holiday celebrations. Following a 10-year battle with breast cancer, she died Sunday, Nov. 2, 2003, at Kaiser Hospital in Walnut Creek. She was 54. After graduating in 1967 from San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, she spent a year living in Nicaragua. She later attended Las Positas College in Livermore. She worked as a receptionist at the Tri-Valley Herald in Livermore, where she met her future husband, Randy. She also served as a day-care provider and as a caretaker for the elderly. A San Francisco Giants and Penn State University football fan, she enjoyed family reunions, reading and bargain hunting, and had one last shopping spree the week before her death. Upon stopping active cancer treatment for hospice care, she gave a going-away present to an oncology nurse, and the nurse thanked her for being an inspiration through her courage, strength and perseverance. In addition to her husband of 25 years, Mrs. Hashagen is survived by two sons, Tom and Robert, and two grandsons, Nathan and Jacob. She also is survived by her mother, Dorothy Howland; her brother, Bill; four sisters, Judy, Lynda, Janice and Wendy, all of California; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. A celebration of her life will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Guerrero Mortuary Chapel, 407 Estudillo Ave., San Leandro. Visitation will be from 9 to 11 a.m. at the mortuary. Memorial donations can be made to the Ryan Comer Cancer Library, c/o Valley Care Medical Center, 5555 W. Las Positas Blvd., Pleasanton, 94588, or to Kaiser Hospice, 200 Muir Road, Martinez CA 94553.

Alameda Times-Star 11/6/03.