Rear Admiral Suzanne Dahlman, USPHS (Ret.)

Rear Admiral Suzanne Dahlman, a nurse-midwife who devoted her career to caring for mothers, babies, and the nation’s public health workforce, died on September 29, 2026, in Denver, Colorado. She was 82.

Suzanne was born on April 2, 1944, in Preston, Idaho, to Lenheart Peter and Dora Claryce Dahlman, and grew up in Gillette, Wyoming. There she earned an American Legion Auxiliary Citizenship Award and a State of Wyoming honor scholarship. She graduated from the University of Wyoming with a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1966 and later earned a master’s degree and certificate in nurse-midwifery from the University of Utah.

Suzanne began her career in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps, serving as a labor and delivery charge nurse from 1966 to 1968 and earning the National Defense Service Medal. She then joined the Indian Health Service in the Navajo Area, working as a staff nurse, midwife, and clinic coordinator in Gallup, New Mexico. She served on the boards of the Navajo Nation Family Planning Corporation and the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

In 1973 she became Chief of the Nurse-Midwifery Branch of the U.S. Public Health Service. Over the next two decades she rose to the rank of Rear Admiral, a two-star flag officer, and served as Director of Commissioned Personnel for the USPHS Commissioned Corps. She retired in 1996.

After retirement, Suzanne relocated to Lacey, Washington. She enjoyed spending time with friends, family, pursuing photography, and the company of her beloved dogs, Missy, Inky and Caramel.

Suzanne is survived by her sister, Linda Miller of Denver, Colorado; her nieces, Shay Fee of Scarborough, Maine, and Stefannie Emerson Rotholz of Denver, Colorado; her great-nephew, Nathaniel Fee; and her great-niece, Emily Emerson. She was preceded in death by her parents and her great niece Claryce Catherine Emerson.

She will be interred with military honors at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, Washington, on October 19, 2026. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Heifer International, VA Center for Development and Civic Engagement (CDCE) or Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia (SOGO) in her memory.