Obituary

(also placed in the April 16, 2022 Globe & Mail newspaper across Canada)

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our amazing Susan on April 7, 2022. At 56 Susan has left us far too soon, overwhelmed by the complications of an emergency aortic surgery at Toronto General Hospital.

Susan was the beloved wife of Jan Trabandt. She is predeceased by her parents Keith and Molly Brooke and will be dearly missed by Jan, her brother Peter (Carol) Brooke, her cousins both near and far, and her many close friends.

Susan was born and raised in Ottawa where she attended Fisher Park High School. In 1988, she received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario. After working a few years in Paris she returned to Canada and received an MBA from the Ivey Business School at Western University in 1996.

Moving to Toronto, she enjoyed a successful career in strategic consulting for Bain & Company, Managerial Design, and later as an executive in Risk Management at TD Bank. She was an intelligent, hardworking, and accomplished colleague who brought much to the roles she took on. She also contributed her time generously to the Genetic Aortic Disorders Association, the Toronto General Hospital’s Patient Advocacy Committee, and the strategic planning committee for her golf community in Florida. A skilled communicator, she could cut to the essence of a problem with great deftness, wit, and occasionally the well-timed use of an f-bomb if the circumstances warranted.

Susan’s bright smile, welcoming ways and compassionate heart brought her many dear friends, made while living in Toronto, Punta Cana, Florida, and Collingwood, Ontario. She had a way of gathering people around her and creating communities among them. Susan was also a traveler, curious about the world and the experiences that she and Jan might find in distant places, especially if they could be enjoyed in 5 star style. A round of golf, a glass of wine and laugh or two with friends to cap it all was a day well spent.

Allergies could not prevent her from sharing her life with her beloved (and supposedly hypoallergenic!) cats Zoe and Zorro. Her love for all cats anywhere also led her to contribute time to animal welfare organizations in Toronto and the Dominican Republic before joining the Georgian Triangle Humane Society in Collingwood as a shelter volunteer, fosterer of kittens and member of its board of directors.