Stefanie Mazur

Stefanie Susan Mazur succumbed to heart disease in the early morning hours of Monday, April 5th. Heart failure came upon her quickly and was a shock to those who knew and loved her. Known as Sue or Suzy to her friends, she was born in Indianapolis February 15, 1949 to Chester and Stella Mazur. The second of their five children, she had a gregarious nature that made her the leader of the pack. Suzy attended Little Flower parochial school, where she was always the youngest, tallest and arguably smartest girl in her class. After a freshman year at Oldenburg Academy of the Immaculate Conception, a convent boarding school in Oldenburg, IN, she completed her secondary education at Father Thomas Scecina Memorial High School. She then attended St. Vincent's Nursing School, graduating in 1970, to become a registered nurse (RN). Her first job was with Indiana University Hospital system in Indianapolis, where she started as an operating room nurse and rose to become the clinical manager of eight major operating rooms and 110 employees. When she moved to Columbus, IN with her first husband, a neurologist, she both assisted in the managing his private practice and frequently drove back and forth to attend Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI). She received a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in 1983 with a major in psychology and a minor in sciences and business. In 1995, she earned a second bachelor’s degree at IUPUI, this time in nursing science, with a focus on business as well. Through the years, Suzy worked at a number of hospitals in Indianapolis, eventually becoming manager of the “endoscopy, cardiac cath/IR, cardiac diagnostics unit” at Wishard Hospital (now Eskenazi Hospital and still partnered with Indiana University School of Medicine). She retired from nursing in 2012 and moved to Palm Desert, CA, where she and her sister, Linda Taylor, started Cadence Communications, an answering service for many of the medical practices in the Coachella Valley, as well as other businesses. However, 2 years later Suzy returned to Indianapolis to be close to family and her longtime friends from tennis, golf, and travels. She loved being great auntie to the younger generations in Indianapolis and Chicago, where her cousins and grandnieces live. Her trips also included a long, steep hike to Machu Pichu in Peru, bicycle touring in Holland, bus tours in Mexico and Costa Rica – to name just a few. A particular favorite was a 2015 tour of Poland, where she was able to visit with her mother’s relatives and be photographed in front of the rustic home where her grandfather had been born near the town of Suwalki, north of Warsaw. She also volunteered with the Indianapolis Museum of Art and as a tutor for the Read Up Program run by the United Way of Central Indiana. Her nursing skills came into play again during two medical missions to Central America. Suzy moved to Sun City in 2019 where she made many friends through forays to the dog park with her pooches Archie and Clint, golf, pickle ball and tennis until her shoulder gave out, the bunko babes, book club, a bridge foursome, and volunteering at the Musical Instrument Museum. Those who knew her here have been reporting on her generous spirit and ready sense of humor. Suzy is preceded in death by her parents and sisters Linda Taylor and Judith Dickinson. She is survived by her son, Christopher Whisler (spouse Amanda) and grandchildren Celia and Chris of Indianapolis; sister Carole Orr (spouse Raymond) of Peoria, AZ, and brother Thomas C. Mazur of Indianapolis (who has adopted Suzy’s pooches Clint and Archie); nephews Lucas Dickinson (spouse Shandi) of Marion, OH, and Joseph Mazur (spouse Arliana) of Nashville, TN; niece Amy Dickinson (partner Chad Lawson) of New Palestine, IN; step-niece Emily Orr of Glendale, AZ, step-niece Heather Orr of Carlsbad, CA; and grandnieces Raven Dickinson, Charlotte Lawson and Meghan Lawson. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Humane Society in the reader’s state, as Suzy had rescued several dogs over the years and was a champion of spaying and neutering. Alternatively, monetary support in her name may be given to the Go Red for Women Movement of the American Heart Association to combat the female heart disease that runs in her family.