Obituary of Suzanne Sommerville

April 24, 1940 - June 24, 2024

Suzanne M. Sommerville.  Age 84 of St.Clair Shores, MI.

Beloved wife of the late George Sommerville.

Dearest aunt of Linda (John) Sullivan, Michael (Kathy) Musko, David (Cindy) Musko, Teresa (Joe) Ravida, Monica (Dave) Vincent, Lawrence Musko, Mary Mardigan, Cecelia (Jerry) Schmitt), Michele Musko (Michael Walters), and Mark Musko. Dear sister in law of Valentine (Madeleine) Musko. Also survived by 19 great nieces and nephews, numerous great great nieces and nephews and her step family: Stepdaughter, Jennifer (Robert) Jansen; stepsons, Jerold Sommerville and Jeffery (Cathy) Somerville; ex daughter in law, Kiera Frick; and stepgrandchildren: Andrew Jansen, Anne Jansen, Kaytie Sommerville, Jonathan Sommerville, and Nathan Sommerville.

In addition to her husband, she was also preceded in death by her Parents: Jean and Anna (Dupuis) Boivin; sisters: Madeleine Musko and Carmen (Bob) Pardon; and brother, Lucien Boivin.

Memorial contributions are appreciated to Basilica of St. Anne Detroit or French Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan, P.O. Box 1900, Royal Oak, MI  48068-1900. 

Family Tribute 

For Suzanne (nee: Boivin) Sommerville the most important things in her life were family, the love of her life George and teaching and  researching the early history of Detroit.  She was an outstanding teacher of English at Grosse Pointe South High School for 31 years.  After retirement she became involved with the French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan.  While working with the society she researched the historical and cultural aspects of Detroit's first decade 1701-1710 and the society published her work in a book called Le Detroit du Lac Erie 1701-1710.  In 2023 Suzanne won the Lucy Mary Kellogg award from the Genealogical Council.  It was a well-deserved award after almost thirty years of research.  Through those years she shared so much of her knowledge with family and friends and even at the end she shared her knowledge with nurses and caretakers.  As one of the reviewers of her book Karen Marrero (Department of History; Wayne State University) stated “the author (Suzanne Sommerville) offers fresh and compelling insights on the daily lives of French men and women of eighteenth-century Detroit.  Sommerville’s painstaking attention to these historic individuals adds detailed knowledge of a time and place that is still understudied and sometimes misunderstood.”   She truly left a legacy of knowledge for future historians and educators to use in their study of the French-Canadian roots of Detroit and Michigan.