Sue Bieber

Sue O. Bieber, 80, of Waukon died Friday, July 28, 2023 at her home. Funeral services were held Tuesday, August 1 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waukon with Pastor Bryan Robertson officiating. Burial followed at Oakland Cemetery, Waukon. Martin-Grau Funeral Home in Waukon handled arrangements.

Sue Olivia Bieber was born March 1, 1943 in Hampton at the Lutheran Hospital of Franklin County. She was the daughter of Richard Carlyle Stewart and Mary Jane (Petersen) Stewart, and a big sister to Sally Jo Shelley. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Hampton.

Sue was a 1961 graduate of Hampton High School and went on to attend the Iowa State Teacher’s College in Cedar Falls, where she completed a teaching degree in 1965. She would return later to the University of Northern Iowa to complete her Masters of Education degree.

Sue taught for a time at Clarke High School in Osceola before moving to Waukon in the fall of 1969. For the next 54 years, Sue was a fixture in the Allamakee Community School District, teaching in both a daily classroom setting as well as countless days as a substitute for nearly every teacher from seventh grade through 12th grade. She also applied her impeccable teaching abilities to good use in her church, where she taught Sunday school classes at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waukon for over 40 years.

In 1981, Sue married James H. Bieber of Waukon and became a loving stepmother to Elizabeth, Peter and Nathan. To this union, their beloved daughter, Sarah Jane, was also born in 1989.

The family was involved in nearly every aspect of church life at St. John’s with her husband, James, as director of music. Sue loved expressing her deep faith while singing as a member of the Senior Choir and applied her musical talents as a member of the Senior Bell Choir for over 40 years. She served tirelessly with her church circle and as long-time president of the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America chapter at St. John’s. Sue and James collaborated annually with the Allamakee Ecumenical Concert that brought clergy and participants from all denominations in Christian brotherhood to celebrate Christ’s birth through beautiful music and lessons from Scripture.

The family enjoyed traveling together and seeing much of the United States and the world on various summer trips across the country, as well as trips to the Hawaiian Islands. The family traveled to Europe for the first time in the summer of 1988 after Peter and Elizabeth were both selected to participate in the Iowa’s Ambassadors of Music tour, sponsored by the University of Iowa. James and Sue were invited to attend as chaperones due to their own musical talents and James served as an accompanist for the 200-member choir made up of high school students from across the state of Iowa, while Elizabeth and Peter played in the 200-piece concert band. Ironically, this trip would be repeated 18 years later when Sarah Jane was selected to be part of the tour, with Sue and James reprising their roles as chaperones and accompanist.

As a former college professor and long-time teacher, James and Sue instilled a lifelong love of learning in their children. A mainstay of every family vacation was the effort of James and Sue to make each place they visited an educational and intellectual experience. From the halls of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. to the waters of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii to the historic gothic and medieval architecture of Europe and St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City in the heart of Rome, James and Sue loved to engage their children in robust discussions of culture and historic people, places and events.

James and Sue adored country living and planted a large and bountiful garden every year. Sue was a prolific “scrap booker” and loved collecting and archiving a vast collection of family memorabilia from vacations to the many extracurricular activities of their children and grandchildren. Sue was a long-time member of P.E.O., where she served in a variety of capacities and hosted numerous gatherings of her P.E.O. sisters and cherished the opportunity to share those experiences with her daughter, who became an active P.E.O. member herself.

The family loved horses and often spent many spring, summer and fall afternoons riding all over the farm on horseback and with James and Sue driving a surrey, buggy or wagon pulled by their many teams of Quarter horses, Standardbred horses, Belgian draft horses and Morgan horses. Winter times would see the family enjoying rides in the bob sled pulled by “Donna and Dixie” and “Ben and Bob”. These experiences were shared with numerous extended family and dear friends.

James and Sue maintained an “open door policy” and played host for many years to an annual New Year’s Day gathering of family and friends at their country home and always enjoyed a spontaneous visit from friends or anyone who just happened to drop by. James and Sue have always said they would rather be rich in friends than rich in money. To that end, James and Sue were trillionaires, both in numbers of friends and quality!

Sue and James were partners in every aspect of life, including their professional life. They worked together for over four decades at Bieber Insurance and Real Estate in Waukon with Sue serving as office manager. Sue and James worked with a small group of dedicated long-time employees whom they valued dearly for their daily efforts in making the business a success; among them are Sue Torkelson, Jane Tepesch and McKayla Hess.

Sue spent her last week on Earth surrounded by and being doted on by her loving husband, daughters and son, and she was able to say her final good-byes to her beloved grandchildren and many friends who stopped by to visit. She took the opportunity to slip away peacefully the morning of July 28, 2023, during a brief window of time that she was by herself. Her family is certain she had that planned all along.

She was preceded in her arrival to Heaven by her loving parents, Richard and Mary Jane Stewart; her beloved sister, Sally Jo Shelley; and her son, Nathan. Left to treasure and adore her memory are her husband, James; her daughter, Elizabeth Bixby; her son, Peter (Kristina); her daughter, Sarah Jane (Ben Sweeney); and her dear nephew, Erick Shelley (Marni) and their son, Thorin. Also grieving her loss are her seven grandchildren: Ethan Bixby (Carly), Addyson Holmstrom (Shane), Evan Bixby, Abram Bixby, Alivia Bixby, Noah Bieber and Joshua Bieber; her great-grandsons, Waylon and Criss Bixby; and her “first child”, former exchange student Peter Van Veen of the Netherlands. Sue will also be remembered for her and James’s countless friends and acquaintances in Waukon, the state of Iowa, across the country and around the world.

Honorary casketbearers were Joshua and Noah Bieber, Shane Holmstrom, Greg Palmer, Todd and Tom Pickett, Erland and Thorin Shelley, Virgil Thorstenson, and Peter Van Veen. Casketbearers were Peter Bieber, Abram, Ethan and Evan Bixby, Erick Shelley and Benjamin Sweeney.

Online condolences may be left at www.martinfunerals.com.