The Reverend Suzanne Marsh, aged 55—parish minister, social activist, community leader, and interfaith advocate—died unexpectedly on 24 June 2016 after a heart attack, fall, and head injury from which she never regained consciousness.

Suzanne walked her talk, holding numerous volunteer positions before and during professional ministry. In her last pastorate (Church of the Desert, Rancho Mirage, CA), she was quickly recognized by interfaith colleagues as bringing “a unique perspective and contagious energy.” The Rev’d Kevin Johnson, a UCC minister in Palm Springs, praised her as “an out lesbian leading a major religious body in the Coachella Valley. That’s not small potatoes.”

Suzanne M. Marsh was born on 25 October 1960 to Betty and Neil Marsh. She was graduated from Laurel (Maryland) High School in 1978, earned a B.S. in business administration in 1985, and then had a successful career of more than 20 years with major accounting firms. In the early 2000s, Suzanne heard a call to ministry, completed work for her M.Div. at the

Pacific School of Religion in 2007, and was ordained in 2009 by the First Unitarian Church of San Jose, CA. She served UU churches in Pennsylvania and Idaho before her call to Rancho Mirage. She is survived by her partner and spouse of nearly 40 years, Nancy Pless, her mother Betty Gersh, and by numerous siblings, children, and others. A Celebration of Life on 27 August 2016 at her church in Rancho Mirage was led by the Rev’d Lindi Ramsden, Suzanne’s former minister.

Memorial donations are encouraged to organizations that Suzanne supported: the UU Justice Ministry of CA and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.