Suzanne Hough Pedersen

The oldest of six children born to the late Jane Jackson Hough and Richard Ralston Hough, Suzanne was born on March 6, 1943 in New York City, NY. Suzanne spent most of her childhood living in Morristown and Madison, NJ with a brief few years in Cleveland Ohio where she graduated high school. The family spent summers at their camp in the Adirondack mountains where she made many memories with her siblings, cousins and lifelong friends. She obtained her Bachelor's degree from Wilson College and went on to earn her Master’s of Social Work from Rutgers University.

In Suzanne’s early career, she worked with disadvantaged youth, supporting them and their families as they navigated turbulent years. She established several group homes for adolescent girls in New Jersey before moving west. Several moves around the country landed her in Washington state and what would become the focus of her social work career - home health care.

Suzanne’s professional life as a social worker and administrator reflected a depth of caring for humanity evidenced in her beliefs in equal access to health care for all. Her strengths in visioning, problem-solving and negotiating were the forces that created the entire Continuing Care Division at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, WA. What started out as a small hospital serving the acute care needs of a large Public Hospital District, through her hard work, became a safety net of programs that met the needs of all individuals in East King County, especially the elderly, disabled, and severely ill. Under Suzanne’s leadership, aegis, case management services, and in-home physical and mental health services for the elderly and disabled were established. Then, Suzanne’s vision brought into being Evergreen Hospice Inpatient and Outpatient Services, the Head Injury Center, and then the Parkinson’s Center. Her legacy is unquestionably huge in scope and impact.

Throughout Suzanne's life, she held an appreciation and interest in the fiber arts of knitting, spinning and weaving. While she dabbled off and on in projects over the years, her true calling was in developing and organizing spaces and programs for these activities to thrive. This passion led to the visioning and creation of a dream home that could double as her residence and an “art school” as she liked to describe it. After retiring from Evergreen Hospital in the late 90’s, Suzanne transitioned effortlessly to the 2nd half of her life where she turned her interest in fiber arts into a business that garnered what can only be described as a cult-like following, creating yet another legacy.

Within the world of the textile arts, Suzanne was revered, respected and enjoyed. She had a gift for creating events and learning spaces that reflected her view that the people who participated in these events were artists rather than hobbyists and was driven to provide unique learning opportunities for them. Over several decades she specialized in advanced, multi-year courses for knitters, spinners and weavers held in her magnificent Timber-Framed home in the woods.

While these courses were remarkable enough in building her legacy, the jewel in her crown was truly the Madrona Fibre Arts Winter Retreat. Beginning in 1999, Suzanne used her uncanny ability to identify teachers and people within the arts who shared her vision, and she spent twenty years building an event so successful, prestigious and iconic that it simply became known as “Madrona” and she… “Suzanne.” While there are many textile artists and teachers who owe much of their skill or careers to Suzanne and her bold goals, if you could get her to sit down for a chat (not easy, given her unstoppable energy) she would tell you that what she was most proud of was that in the process of building Madrona, she’d built what she’d really meant to – a community.

Never abandoning her background in social work, and with her fiber arts businesses not being enough to keep her busy, for many years Suzanne also consulted with individuals as a life coach helping them make transitional career shifts in their own lives. Unstoppable, Suzanne worked up until her illness in 2019.

Suzanne was preceded in death by her parents, Jane and Richard Hough, and her brother William Hough. She is survived by her siblings Richard Hough, Jr. of Sarasota, FL, Edith Overtree of Orefield, PA, Jane Hough of Earlville, NY, and Robert Hough of Windham, NH; her daughter, Jennifer Angelis of Bow, WA; her grandchildren, Charlie and Daphne; and many cousins, nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to the EvergreenHealth Foundation, 12040 NE 128th St, MS 5, Kirkland, WA, 98034-3013. https://evergreenhealthfoundation.com/donate/