Susan Heikkinen
October 21, 1964 - December 24, 2021
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Susan Heikkinen
October 21, 1964 - December 24, 2021
Obituary
Susan Heikkinen, 57, passed away December 24, 2021, of complications from a long term illness. She was a beloved daughter, sister and friend. Born October 21, 1964 in Ohio to Janet Lee Heikkinen (nee Schultz) and the late Allen H. Heikkinen, Susan grew up in Phoenix, AZ and remained in the Phoenix area for her adult life. She is survived by her mother, Janet Lee Heikkinen and her sister, Carol Heikkinen.
Susan attended Madison #1 elementary, Camelback High School, and ASU, where she earned a BA in Math Education. She later earned a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering, and a Masters in Education Administration. Susan was a highly regarded educator, teaching AP Calculus at South Mountain High School, North High School, and most recently Betty Fairfax High school, where she was the founding sponsor for the Mu Alpha Theta mathematics national honor society.
Susan’s former department head at Betty Fairfax High School, Josh Wray, wrote this about Susan’s extraordinary talent as an educator:
“Susan Heikkinen was an amazing teacher and changed the lives of countless people, students and colleagues alike. Susan was a leader and always went out of her way to help her coworkers. She would share lesson plans and offer advice for anyone that was interested in growing from her experience. Susan was so fun to be around. She was always in a good mood and had a great sense of humor. Susan would make you laugh and offer a compliment when she knew you needed it. Susan was always thinking of others and was kind to everyone. She brought her experiences from previous work to help make math relevant and interesting to students. Susan built such amazing relationships with her students. They respected her and worked hard but loved being in her class. It was the perfect balance of respect and love that all teachers strive for. Susan was unbelievably talented at what she did yet remained humble and constantly strived to improve. She was not satisfied with doing things the same way year after year. Susan changed with the times and the kids to continue to optimize every kid’s education. Susan had an uncanny ability to relate to every single kid. Athletes, academics, socialites, and introverts all connected with Susan and loved her class. She was thanked in every graduation speech that I attended. The best and only way to understand the teacher and person Susan was is to ask every one of her thousands of students about her. They will tell you how life changing, inspiring, and uplifting she was. Every student and coworker of Susan’s will miss her but is definitely a better person today because of her. I know I am.”
Susan’s family thanks Josh for his kind words, she will be greatly missed by everyone who knew her. We hope her colleagues, friends and students will share memories of her in the guestbook.
17 responses to Susan Heikkinen
Zack Munoz says:
January 3, 2022
I had the great privilege of bringing Susan to Fairfax High School as her Principal in 2011. She was immediately impactful with our students, parents and staff because of her positive attitude, infectious smile and never-ever quit attitude. I remember asking Susan to take a leadership role in the Math department and her responding with, “what do you need me to do and when do we get started!?”. Susan would do anything to help a student or colleague from the simple to complex. It was her unique personal touch and caring that I, along with everyone, truly admired about her. And Susan’s sense of humor, skill and genuine personality made her an instant favorite of students and staff. She taught from her heart and from her soul and loved what she did, that’s what made her so special to all of us at Fairfax. As a result, Susan was honored by her peers with accolades and by her students as their VIP guest at games and performances, wearing their jerseys’ during spirit week, or speaking about how she impacted their lives at graduation.
Although we will miss Susan, she will forever be in our hearts for her selflessness, love and dedication to making a difference in the lives of her many students, parents and staff.
God Bless you Susan and thank you for touching our lives.
Jan E Brunton says:
January 4, 2022
My cousin Susan was easy to talk to and the few times that I visited with her, I felt like we had conversed with one another every day.. One of my favorite memories of her was the time she played in the pool with my boys. She was fun and they had a great time with her. She will be missed.
Tierra Terry says:
January 4, 2022
Ms.Heikkinen impacted so many student lives at Fairfax HS, especially class of 2014. She was the best of the best and was always so passionate. She really wanted everyone to succeed and do their absolute best. Extremely genuine individual inside and out. Thank you for being such an amazing person, you will be missed!
Aaleeyah Webster says:
January 4, 2022
Ms. Heikkinen was one of the sweetest teachers I ever met. You could just tell she truly cared about what she did and and her students. She truly knew what it meant to show genuine kindness. I can’t thank her enough for being there for me when I was having problems. Thank you for all that you’ve done for me and other students. You were angel.
Rita P says:
January 4, 2022
Tonight we light a candle for Ms. Heikinnen. Thank you for being the light in our lives during the most challenging and darkest of days. You made coming to school welcoming and comfortable. Those who had the chance to meet her knew how compassionate and caring she was. Thank you, Ms Heikinnen for being the teacher that went above and beyond for us and inspiring us to do the same. You will be so greatly missed.