Susan "Susie" Buettner Purtell, 85, of West Bend, WI and Thomasville, GA died peacefully on May 28, 2024 surrounded by family in Milwaukee, WI.

Susie was raised on Milwaukee's East side and was the second of three children born to Alfred and Jane (Oesterreich) Buettner. She attended Milwaukee-Downer Seminary (now Milwaukee University School). Susie adored her father who was a radio personality at WTMJ and recounted the various theatrical and musical celebrities she met through her father.

Susie began dating her husband Irwin "Win" Shadbolt Purtell in 1959 and it was not long after that they eloped in Feb 1960 and had their first son Tony later that year. Tony would be followed by three more children: Laura (Purtell) Leech, Charles (Charlie) Purtell, Elisabeth (Lisa Purtell) Boyce. They raised their children in Shorewood and later moved to Mequon to be a little closer to nature

Susie began her bachelor's degree at Lawrence College and completed it at nine years later Wisconsin State Teachers College in Milwaukee – now known as University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. Her long college tenure was due to the arrival of and caring of her first three children.

Susie was a homemaker, then taught pre-school before joining her brother in-law's (Ted Purtell's) residential real estate business. She had an active circle of lifelong friends through Milwaukee's Junior League and her close-knit sewing club. After her husband retired from the M&I bank, they moved from Mequon to an idyllic estate in West Bend, replete with rolling hills and ponds that they called Landover. Win and Susie spent the next 20 years deeply involved in training and competing in retriever dog field trials. Like her husband, Susie loved the outdoors and she adored her many labradors, several of whom became National Field Champions. Following her husband's death in 2015– Susie spent next nine years continuing her love of dogs and nature mostly from her Landover estate in West Bend.

Susie is survived by her four children and their spouses: Tony and Suphawadee Purtell; Laura (Purtell) Leech; Charlie Purtell and Tamara Feldman, and Lisa (Purtell) Boyce and Darren Boyce; 10 grandchildren (Sarawut, Sukanya, Lilly, Lila, Gordy, Darren, Tyler, Ellie, Alden, Elsa) and one great grandchild (Cameron) also her brother -Alfred Buettner and spouse Leigh (Schweppe) Buettner, and sister Katherine (Buettner) Banzhaf.

A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday August 16, 2024 at Crossroads Presbyterian Church, 6031 Chapel Hill Rd in Mequon, WI (corner of Highland and Green Bay Rds). The family will greet relatives and friends on Friday at the Church from 10:00 - 11:00 AM. Following the service a reception will be held from 1:00 - 4:00 PM at the Hidden Glen Golf Club, 3300 Hidden Glen Ln in Cedarburg, WI.

In lieu of flowers we invite donations to the Riveredge Nature Center and the Charles E. Kubly Foundation- two causes that were important to her.