Susan L. Foster, Spokane Valley resident, passed away Thursday, April 16, 2026, at the LaDow Court Assisted Living in Garfield. She was 77. A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, May 16, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at the Advent Lutheran Church, 13009 E Broadway Ave, Spokane Valley, WA, 99216. Susan will be interred with her family in the Enterprise Finnish Cemetery at Brocket, N.D. The cemetery there is full of her ancestors. Susan was so proud of her Finnish heritage. Her parents were both from Finland and she loved to trace her Finnish heritage back.
Susan was the oldest of 10 and grew up on the family farm near Brocket, N.D. She was born Oct. 28, 1948, in Devils Lake, N.D. to Reino and Ruth Lehtinen Erickson. She graduated from Lakota High School in 1966 and went on to attend the University of North Dakota where she received her bachelor’s degree in business and marketing.
Susan married Sanford Foster in 1971. They made their home in several different places in those early years as he moved around lots working construction jobs. They began a family of their own, eventually growing to three children, and the family settled in Twin Falls, Idaho. Susan and Sanford were divorced in 1984 and Susan and the kids moved to Federal Way, WA. She worked as a tax collector for the Internal Revenue Service and later she worked for Housing and Urban Development. Eventually Susan became a property manager that oversaw government property in several western states for the General Services Administration. She held this job for more than thirty years before her retirement in 2008. She has lived in the Spokane Valley for the last 23 years.
Susan was an avid quilter and loved quilting. She belonged to the Washington Quilters Association. She was also a good painter and in her younger days she liked to play golf and do bowling. She liked card games; especially bridge. She was an avid collector of chicken items, her house was full of them. She just really enjoyed those.
More recently she really enjoyed spending time with her grandkids and attending many of their sporting events. She was always helping her grandkids with fundraisers or school projects, from donating snacks, donating her incredible handmade quilts to help them raise funds, to making and donating items for auctions. She was always willing and happy to be involved with her grandkids’ schools and was commonly referred to by community kids as “Grandma Sue.”
She is survived by her three children; Jenna (Eric) McDonald of Rosalia, WA, Sara (Donovan) Chase, Tekoa, and Robert (Meka) Foster of Covington, WA; by 8 grandchildren; Davin, Carson and Leon McDonald, Denali, McKinley, Charlie, and Bayler Chase and Wiley Foster; by a sister, Joyce Carter living in Montana and a brother, Kevin Erickson in North Dakota. Susan was preceded in death by her parents and 7 siblings; Peggy, Barb, Raymond, Jim, Jan, Keith, and Nancy. On-line guest book is at www.corbeillfuneralhomes.com Corbeill Funeral Home in Colfax is caring for the family.
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