Susan Fitzgerald

Funeral services for Susan Fitzgerald of Morris, MN will be held Friday, July 10, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. at The Bridge Church in Hancock, MN with Reverend Steve Austvold officiating. Visitation will be held Thursday, July 9, 2026 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Pedersen Funeral Home in Morris and for one hour prior to services at the church on Friday. Burial will be in Lakeside Cemetery, rural Hancock.

Susan Irene Fitzgerald, 71, of Hancock, MN, died on Friday, June 26, 2026, at home surrounded by her husband of 42 years, Mark Eugene Fitzgerald, and their children.

Born in Morris, MN, on March 30, 1955, she was the daughter of the late Timothy and Thelma (Bratton) Sullivan. She grew up on a farm and had a passion for helping her dad with farm tasks from a young age. She attended Country School, District 70, through 4th Grade, then attended Morris Public School, graduating with the Class of 1973. The summers of her Junior and Senior years were spent working at The Minnesouri Club on Lake Miltona near Alexandria, MN. After graduating from High School, she attended Granite Falls Tech School to obtain an Associate’s Degree in Private Secretary, graduating in the Spring of 1974. She moved to Minneapolis and worked downtown at Northwestern National Bank and at the IDS Center; both positions were in the insurance field. Over these years, she went on countless trips with her family and friends, filled with memories she still looked back on with smiles and laughter.

Susan married Mark Fitzgerald at the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Morris, MN, on June 2, 1984. They began their life together on a farm near Hancock, MN, where she was an active partner, managing the business and operating machinery, particularly the combine during harvest. Their children, Joseph, born December 8, 1985, and Megan, born April 17, 1989, were central to their lives. She balanced farm work with homemaking, being a loving tenant of the family and the land she loved. In 1999, Susan and Mark began their certified organic farming operation, which lasted until their retirement in 2024.

Susan and Mark took a Caribbean cruise, during which they visited St. Thomas, St. John, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, San Juan, and Puerto Rico. They took Joe and Megan on many fun excursions, including a trip to Las Vegas, Camp Snoopy at the Mall of America, Valleyfair, watching Annie and Beauty and the Beast at the Orpheum Theatre, Champions on Ice Olympic Tour, the Minnesota State Fair, the Stevens County Fair, feeding the ducks in the summer, playing in the snow in the winter, as well as visits to friends' and family's homes. They saw Dave Matthews Band and The Wallflowers in concert, as well as plenty of Christian bands. There were also trips surrounding organic conferences, field days, and picking up parts throughout the state and beyond, which she always turned into a fun family vacation. Susan especially loved taking the family to Alexandria to visit local boutiques, eat out, and go to the cinema, where she made friends everywhere they went. Susan loved fashion ever since she was a child, always reading magazines and shopping, and took particular pride in being the family’s lifelong stylist.

In 2023, she contracted Long COVID, which caused severe joint/muscle pain, preventing her from doing fieldwork or traveling anymore. Her last trip was to the Spring Grove Caledonia Film Festival, where she met Ed Asner and walked the red carpet in her favorite designer outfit. She said over and over that she just wanted to sit in her comfy chair, watch movies, listen to her favorite songs, research on her phone, read her Bible, and talk on the phone to everyone she could about organic farming, environmentalism, health, and her Christian faith. Her dedication to her family, faith, and community left a lasting impact, and she inspired many with her resilience and kindness. Susan meant the world to everyone who knew her and left behind a hole that will never be filled again.

She is survived by her husband Mark, children Joseph and Megan of Hancock, MN, her sisters Patricia (Gary) Varnum of Morris, MN, and Karen (John) O’Sullivan of Minnetonka, MN, her sister-in-law Mary Jeanne (Gary) Jernberg of Lake Elmo, MN, her brothers Thomas, Randy, and John Sullivan of Morris, MN, and her nephews Jacob Varnum of Stacy, MN, Brendan, and

Christopher O’Sullivan of Mound, MN, Michael Jernberg of Rochester, MN, Timothy (Laura Janson) Jernberg of Naples, FL and niece Anne (CJ) Simonsen of Carmel, CA along with the Nienabers, other relatives and cherished friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Gerald “Jerry” Sullivan, her grandparents, her aunts, her uncles, and her cousins.

Pedersen Funeral Home in Morris, MN is in care of the arrangements for Susan.