SUSAN SCOTT HANSMIRE ELLSBURY, 78, of Fairbury, passed away peacefully on Monday June 22, in Omaha.

She was born to Dr. Floyd and Ruth (Harvey) Hansmire on November 13, 1947 in Lincoln. She graduated from Fairbury High School in 1966. She then attended college at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, majoring in French and participated in the Experiment in International Living near Brest, France in 1968.

She transferred to the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1968 and graduated May of 1970 with a BA degree in French.

While attending college in Colorado she met the love of her life, Mike Ellsbury and they were married on June 13, 1970 in Fairbury. They moved to Fort Collins, Colorado where Susan worked as a Librarian while Mike pursued a Master's Degree in Entomology from 1970 to 1973.

They joined the Peace Corps and were stationed in the French-speaking country of Benin, West Africa from 1973 to 1975. Susan taught English as a second language to a middle school class while serving as a volunteer.

Upon returning to the States, they lived in Tucson, Arizona where Susan again worked as a Librarian and obtained a Master's Degree in Information Science from the University of Arizona in 1979.

They moved to Starkville, MS where she worked as a Librarian, and attained the rank of Associate Professor at Mississippi State University. She and Mike also owned and ran a Christmas Tree Farm in Mississippi. During this time their son John was born in 1984. They moved to Brookings, South Dakota where Susan taught French in Madison, South Dakota until she retired in 2005.

In 2008, they relocated to Fairbury and built a home southwest of Fairbury where Susan enjoyed growing and caring for many kinds of plants and flowers and enjoyed the beauty of their home and watching the wildlife on their property.

She and Mike traveled to many places including Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal, Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria while in the Peace Corps. Susan also travelled as a French teacher with student groups to Switzerland, Belgium, England, Ireland, Scotland, several trips to Paris and many other towns in France. On these trips they enjoyed skiing, visiting museums, historical landmarks and exploring new places.

They enjoyed entertaining guests and always welcomed friends and family into their home. They celebrated their 56th Anniversary on June 13, 2026, while Susan was hospitalized just prior to her passing.

Susan enjoyed playing the piano, reading, knitting, her cat Fluffy, and tending to her flower gardens. You seldom saw her without a flower in her hair and her smile always radiated kindness. She will be missed by many family and friends.

Susan was preceded in death by her parents, Dr. Floyd and Ruth Hansmire, a son John in 2002 and brothers-in-law Rick Ellsbury and Randy Campbell.

She is survived by her husband of 56 years Mike, brother William (Bill) Hansmire and his wife Julia Ryan of South Pasadena, Calif., sister Julie Hansmire of Loma, Colo., sisters-in-law Kathleen Ellsbury MD of Seattle, WA and sister-in-law Connie Ellsbury of Portland, Oregon as well as several cousins, nieces and nephews.

She also was very close to a special friend Becky Grong of Brookings, South Dakota, Teri and John Green of Madison South Dakota, and her former student in French classes, John Michael Green. She also will be missed by our exchange student, Vanessa Alejos Simola, from Fribourg, Switzerland.

Cremation has taken place and a Graveside Memorial Service will be held at the Fairbury Cemetery on Sunday, October 11 at 2:00 p.m. Memorials may be sent to the Fairbury Cemetery Association c/o The American National Bank in Fairbury, Nebraska.