Susan grew up in Whitefish Bay, where she discovered a love of poetry in a high school English class. Poetry became her life’s work. After high school, she spent time in Los Angeles and Alaska. She eventually returned to Milwaukee, where she earned her BA and MA from UW-Milwaukee and married a fellow poet, Jim Hazard. She taught poetry and creative writing at UWM from 1982-2015 and served as Milwaukee’s poet laureate from 2008-2010. She traveled widely, including trips to Sicily, Finland, Turkey, and Russia.

Susan surrounded herself with the people and things she loved, most notably her family, books, and flowers.  She was a devoted mother and grandmother—though was never called “grandma,” only Tutu. Her garden on Bartlett was a work of art that she could continue working on and enjoying forever. Her neighbors knew and loved Susan, who they frequently visited on her long strolls around Whitefish Bay.

Those walks frequently took her to Big Bay Park, home to a disused jetty that to some may seem like an eyesore, but to her was a thing of beauty—poking out into her favorite body of water, Lake Michigan. She spent the vast majority of her life within a mile of the lake, a fact reflected in her poems. Those poems were known worldwide, having been published in the New Yorker, Ms. magazine, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, The Book of Irish American Poetry: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present, and many more. She is the proud author of six books, including the Cleveland State University Poetry Center Award-winning The Lives of Saints and Everything.  Susan’s archives are housed at UW-Milwaukee’s Golda Meir Library.

Susan is predeceased by her parents; her husband, Jim Hazard; and her sisters, Patricia and Mary.

She is survived by her children, Erin Hazard, Caitlin Firer, and Bix Firer; son-in-law Josh Modell; daughter-in-law Emma Walker; and grandsons Jack, Jasper, and Angus.

A celebration of life was held at North Point Lighthouse, 2650 N Wahl Ave. (in Lake Park) on Friday, September 12, 2025, from 2-5 p.m. In lieu of flowers, consider a donation to the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.

Susan's website with her books, poetry and other works: http://www.susanfirer.com/index.html

How I Would Like to be remembered: