Susan "Susie" S. Hoffmann

Susan “Susie” Schemel Hoffmann, 69, of Lake Forest, Illinois, passed away peacefully on June 29, 2023. Susie was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she attended University School. She earned a degree in Classics from Skidmore College and a Masters in Business Administration from the Stern School at New York University. While living in New York, she was an officer at Chemical Bank and Bankers Trust, and volunteered in education programs at the Junior League of New York City. After moving to Lake Forest, Illinois, Susie devoted her considerable energies to raising her four children with her husband, Charlie, and continued to pursue her interest in education, actively developing curriculum for School District 67. She was instrumental in the District’s adoption of foundational Latin for all students in elementary grades and was a middle school Latin instructor for several years. Susie then embarked on a full-time education career and served for five years as the Director of Summer Programs at Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development. In 2009, Susie was hired by Lake Forest Open Lands, where she conceived and led the Center for Conservation Leadership as an environmental stewardship program for high school students from Lake Forest and surrounding underserved communities. Susie forged adult educational partnerships with other organizations, including members of the Lake County Nature Network, of which she was a co-founder, Gorton Community Center, and Lake Forest College, where she taught a course covering the history, ecology, and environmental policy issues of Lake Michigan. Among others, Susie’s environmental recognitions included selection as an Audubon Toyota TogetherGreen Fellow and receipt of an Environmental Protection Agency grant as a fellow aboard the Lake Michigan research vessel Lake Guardian. She retired as Director of CCL in December 2022. Susie saw the outdoors as a rich classroom, whether driving her children on an extensive tour of the Western states one summer, introducing groups of CCL students to Yellowstone Park, or arranging Friday evening nature talks on the Lake Forest Open Lands preserves. Susie loved to travel and was an avid student of the history and culture of any place she visited. She was curious, eager for deeper knowledge on many fronts, and happy to share the fruits of her curiosity with others. In both her professional and personal life, Susie was a relationship builder and made a practice of connecting people with complementary interests, enriching all of her communities. Susie is survived by her mother; Anne Schemel; husband Bernhard (Charlie) Hoffmann; children Alexandra (Marc Bouffard), August (Michele Curley), Peter (Meredith Lawrence), and Phoebe (William Holmes); grandchildren, Charlotte and Griffin Hoffmann; and brothers David, Phillip, and Michael Schemel. Memorial contributions in Susie’s name may be made to The Community Church of Lake Forest & Lake Bluff at https://thecommunitychurch.us/give/. A Memorial Service will be held Thursday, July 13, 2023 at 4PM at the Church of the Holy Spirit, 400 E. Westminster Road, Lake Forest.

Susan "Susie" S. Hoffmann

April 5, 1954 - June 29, 2023