I want you to know that I read those emails (sent by classmates) to mom, and she loved hearing them. It meant so much to her to hear from her former classmates. She so wanted to be at the reunion, and hearing from all of you made her feel just a little bit like she was there. Thank you so much for that.

Her obituary:

Susan Pamela Demirsky Allan passed away last night after a determined struggle with brain cancer. Through strength of will and love of family she maintained good quality of life for over two years with an incurable tumor.  She is survived by her husband, David, sister Judy, son Brian, daughter Jennie, son-in-law Marc, and her wonderful grandsons Colin and Ian. 

Susan’s passions included education, travel, Michigan football and especially her close family in Chicago and Israel. Susan graduated from Bowen High in Chicago, and earned her BA (theater), MA (psychology) and PhD (Education and Psychology) from the University of Michigan. She was a leader in gifted education and later in differentiated instruction, co-authoring a book on that topic that became the seminal resource in the field and was translated into several languages. She began her career in the Falls Church, Virginia, School System, and later worked in Dearborn and Grosse Pointe, Michigan, eventually becoming Assistant Superintendent of Grosse Pointe Schools. She developed many dear friends at each stop in her career. Her interest in others, her sense of humor and exuberant personality made her an engaging conversationalist.