Susan J. Carne

May 7, 1951 - March 6, 2023

Susan Joy (Hazelett) Carne, age 71 of Omaha, was born May 7, 1951 in Punxsutawney, PA to Howard Silas Hazelett and Lois Jean Stiteler.  Her older brother, William McKee  Hazelett named her.  Her father was working as a strip miner at the time. Both of her grandfathers and many uncles worked in the mines or were truck drivers with ties to the mines. In World War II, her father was part of the 66th Infantry Black Panther Division that fought in the second wave at The Battle of the Bulge.

When Susan was 1-year-old, the family loaded up the truck and moved to North Kansas City, MO, where her father worked for a local construction company.  Susan attended Meadowbrook Elementary School from 2nd through 6th grade. She spent her days with close friends at the pool, playing Monopoly, watching movies, playing badminton, and kick the can.  

As a young girl, Susan enjoyed roller skating and piano lessons. She was very involved in North Cross United Methodist Church.  As she got older, she attended church camp in the summer and retreats during the year, serving as President of both the Junior and Senior High Methodist Youth Fellowship (MYF).

Susan went to Antioch Junior High school and Oak Park High school.  Although she met her future husband, Scott, in Junior High, they started dating their junior year of high school. Susan and Scott became sweethearts and eventually married in 1972.  Scott and Susan enrolled at Southwest Missouri State for the first year of college, followed by a year at a Junior College in Kansas City, and then both transferred to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.  Susan wanted to be a lawyer, but her father told her she could be a teacher or a nurse. With the love of education instilled in her by her parents, Susan graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in Education.  While Scott finished his degree, Susan was a nanny for the Hollywood legend Gordon McRae.  

Susan and Scott moved to Omaha, NE where Susan started her teaching career as a 4th grade teacher at Miller Park Elementary.  She taught there for 4 years before her first child, Brad, was born. 

She stayed home to raise Brad, son Dana, and son Jeff providing a loving and educational environment to allow for their success today.  She was also active at their schools, volunteering in classrooms and teaching at the Gingerbread House Preschool.  She was active in the PTA at Joslyn Elementary, becoming president and starting the yearbook. 

She volunteered with many organizations including the Rose Theatre, working in the gift shop after performances. She loved making holidays, especially Christmas, fun and special to all and was famous for her baking. She was known for her peanut butter and chocolate fudge, and Buckeye Balls.

Susan went back to teaching in 1993 at Belvedere Elementary and then moved to Spring Lake Elementary, making lifelong friends along the way.  She retired in 2013, happy with the many young lives she had shaped over the years. 

After retirement, Susan became active in the Assistance League Omaha, where she reconnected with old teaching friends and worked countless hours to help support the community.  She was especially proud of her service with Operation School Bell, providing school clothes and books to over 4,000 children each year.

She loved spending time with her grandchildren, making sure that she saw them regularly and planning special one on one time with each of them.  She enjoyed taking them to the Rose Theatre, attending their events, or just playing at home. 

She loved summer weekends at Beaver Lake and yearly trips to Estes Park, especially feeding the chipmunks with peanuts at the top of the aerial tram.  She quickly learned the preferences of the chipmunks - they had to be 'unsalted' peanuts.  The chipmunks won't even look at 'salted' peanuts.

She loved going with Scott to the Omaha Community Playhouse and the Orpheum Theater for Broadway plays. She loved traveling, visiting the home of her ancestors in Ireland recently.  A riverboat cruise to Germany was next but ran out of time. 

She especially loved the special breakfast and lunches with her friends each week, cherishing those memories to the end. 

Susan passed away peacefully at home on March 6, 2023, after a courageous fight against pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic Cancer is not known to be hereditary, but both Susan's Father and Brother died from it. Susan and her children enrolled in Pancreatic Cancer Research to help find a link to help future families catch it earlier. 

Preceded in death by parents, Howard and Lois Hazelett, and brother, William.  She will be greatly missed by her husband of 50 years, Scott; sons, Brad (Kay), Dana (Daniel), Jeff (Ashley); and grandchildren, Ashlyn (CJ), Braden, Mason, Josephine, Arianna, Finnegan, Scottie and sibling coming soon.

At a later date, her ashes will be spread by her family at the Estes Park YMCA of the Rockies in the area by their honeymoon cabin. 

VISITATION with the family will be Saturday, (3/11/2023), at 9:30am at Countryside Community Church 13130 Faith Plaza followed by a CELEBRATION OF LIFE at 11am.  A luncheon and continued visitation will follow. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to Operation School Bell Assistance League or the Pancreatic Cancer Center of Excellence fund at the NU Foundation.