OBITUARY Susan R. Heerdink May 27, 1958 – September 27, 2018 Susie Rapp Heerdink, a singer, songwriter, church choir director, music impresario, devoted wife, mother and grandmother, fierce advocate for and protector of children and women, and a lifelong resident of Evansville, IN, died Sept. 27 at the Linda E. White Hospice House at Deaconess Hospital. She was 60.
The cause was complications from Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes, diagnosed when she was nine years old. Susan Renae Rapp was born on May 27, 1958, in Evansville, the third of four children in the family of Robert Rapp and the former Dorothy Davies, both singers, musicians and teachers. She attended Oak Hill Elementary and North High schools, where she ran track, performed in musical events and played piano.
She met her future husband of 42 years, David Heerdink of Evansville, while attending Bethlehem United Church of Christ during their high school years. They raised three children in a former farmhouse on Hillsdale Road before moving to a mid-town house near Akin Park. Ms. Heerdink was an accomplished musician of many styles and genres.
In 1987, she wrote “Here in Evansville,” celebrating the 175th anniversary of the Ohio River city’s founding. She also composed a theme song for the University of Evansville entitled “Basketball Fan,” which was inspired by her courtside cheerleading role as the “Purple Aces Lady”. She had studied music at the University of Evansville under her father, the late Dr. Robert M. Rapp, longtime choral conductor and voice teacher.
She was also a member of the Evansville Choral Society, in which she sang an alto solo role in her father’s Choral Society production of George Frideric Handel’s oratorio, “Semele”. Ms. Heerdink served in ministry for a number of local churches, including Bethlehem UCC, Olivet Presbyterian, Eastminster Presbyterian, Eastern Heights Baptist, and Zoar United Church of Christ. She composed and produced the sacred cantata, “Voices of God,” and directed and produced the musical stage show “Godspell”.
Ms. Heerdink conceived, managed and staged one of the most well-received musical education events in Evansville history, “Musicians Have Style,” bringing hundreds of elementary school pupils together at the Vanderburgh County Auditorium for a live demonstration of various musical genres. Sponsored by the Evansville Philharmonic Guild, the program won the 1990 Sally Park Educational Award from the National Symphony and Orchestra League. She is survived by her husband and three children, Kristen (Brian) Watson and Joe (Julie) Heerdink of Evansville, and Rachel (Blake) Zachary of Ladoga, Ind.
; six grandchildren, Kyle (Mariah), Carolyn and Brendan Watson, Olive and Amelia Heerdink, and Evelyn Zachary; her mother-in-law Bertha Heerdink; and three brothers, David (Lee Anne) Rapp of Washington, D.C., John (Anita) Rapp of Beloit, Wisc. , and Jim (Cathy) Rapp of Melbourne, Fla. Her mother Dorothy died in 1997 and her father in 2011.
Ms. Heerdink was proudest of her extended family and doted on her grandchildren. But she also cared deeply for troubled children and teens. She took in homeless runaways and others when they had nowhere else to turn.
Most recently she conceived and began developing a non-profit funding proposal for a center she called “Grandma’s House,” designed to be a safe haven for young girls and women escaping from abusive situations. Family life was “always an adventure,” her children agreed. Even when things look bleakest, “she had faith”.
A Celebration of Life service will be held 4:00 PM at Olivet Community Church, 5600 Oak Hill Road, Sunday, October 7, 2018. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (www. jdrf.org).
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