Suzanne “Sue” Gleason Locher, 94, of Lenexa, Kansas passed away on Monday, April 20, 2026. The family is deeply grateful for the compassionate, skillful care provided by the Lakeview Village Care Center and Ascend Hospice, who supported Sue’s peaceful passing at the end of life.
An open house reception celebrating Sue’s life will be held on Tuesday, May 5, 2026 from 3:00 – 4:30 PM in the Bistro at Eastside Terrace, Lakeview Village, 9000 Park Street, Lenexa, KS 66215. Family, friends, and Lakeview staff members are welcome and encouraged to share in refreshments, conversation, and laughter to honor Sue’s long life.
Sue was born on March 1, 1932 in Hutchinson, Kansas. The second of two daughters, Sue’s first claim to fame was that she was named the Most Beautiful Baby at the Kansas State Fair of 1932.
Sue’s growing up years were a journey from Hutchinson to St. Joseph, on to Oklahoma City and then to Kansas City as her family moved with her father’s work for the Santa Fe Railroad. Sue graduated from Southwest High School in Kansas City, Missouri in 1949.
She attended college at The University of Kansas City and then transferred to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. At Drake, Sue earned a Business Administration and Secretarial Science certificate in 1952. Her career began at a Des Moines law firm before her journey took her to Chicago. There she worked as a legal secretary for the Santa Fe Railroad for 10 years. Sue enjoyed her work in the busy railroad law office and served as Executive Secretary to the General Solicitor. Highlights from those years included traveling for cases to San Francisco and to the Supreme Court in Washington, DC.
On May 19,1962, Sue’s father asked her to go pick up one of his “railroad cronies” from the train station whom he described as “fat and balding.” The handsome young man who stepped off that train was anything but. Sue met Robert “Bob” Locher that day and the two fell in love. They married on May 11, 1963. Their life’s journey of 55 years together took them to Iowa, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Louisiana, and Kansas as they moved for Bob’s work with the Kansas City Southern Railroad. Together, they created a loving home, raised two beautiful daughters, traveled the world extensively, and lived a wonderful life. The couple moved to Lakeview Village in Lenexa in July 2005 and enjoyed the vibrant community immensely.
Always a lady, Sue will be fondly remembered for her classiness, clever wit, and spunk.
Sue is survived by her two daughters and their families, Ami Levin and her husband Jeff of Olathe, KS, Meg Holloway and her husband John of Overland Park, KS; three grandchildren, Noah Levin and his wife Jennifer, Adam Levin and his fiancée Donna, and Miranda Holloway; and two great-grandchildren, Taylor and Peyton Levin. She was preceded in death by her parents, Clarence and Hannah Gleason, her sister, Marjorie Roberts, and her husband, Robert Locher.
To honor Sue’s life, the family requests donations to the Lakeview Village Foundation: lakeviewvillage.org/foundation. The family suggests designating gifts to the Foundation’s work that was most important to Sue - the Lakeview Village Educational Endowment, the Catlett Scholarship, or the New Centerpointe Care Center Fund.