Susan Koehn Obituary

Susan was born to Brant and Janet Johnson and into a life of public service. Her father was a founder of the Jaycees and a Highway Patrolman, her mother a clerk for the Juvenile Court. Being an active participant in her community directed her life. Susan was the first woman that served on the road with the Davis County Sheriff's office. She served on the Woods Cross City Council as well as a member of the Utah House of Representatives. During her service she focused on children, especially those with Special Needs. After serving in the House of Representatives she co-founded one of the premier lobbying firms in the state. Together with her husband they focused on protecting those with autism, mental health and substance abuse issues, firefighters, and public education. Her greatest professional joy came from advocating for those that could not. While public service was has life - her family was her love and passion.

She married Gary Koehn, a police officer with Bountiful Police Department and together had three amazing children; Kaitlyn, Abigail, and Grayson., and later married David Copeland.Katy married Charlie Skinner, a North Salt Lake police officer and had two beautiful children, Emma and Zack. Unfortunately tragedy stuck when the twins were only three weeks old and Charlie was killed in the line of service, Katy just passed away a few months ago never able to recover from her loss. 

Emma and Zack changed Susan's life - coming to live with her and Dave from three weeks to now 16 years old. In raising her second round of children Susan became an avid volleyball fan for Emma, and a fierce defender of those with autism spectrum disorder for Zack. She prided herself as a mother of her children and grandchildren. She learned raising her "second set" of kids that pizza for breakfast and ice cream for dinner are a perfect meal for two perfect children. 

Abby with her partner David Kaawaui just welcomed the most beautiful son into this world last year. With Abby's big beautiful eyes, and Dave's perfect black hair, their son Lucas was the purest form of joy in Susan's last year. Whether reading stories or counting his fingers and toes together, he is "Grandma's boy"Grayson and his amazing husband Brandon Blackmon were always Susan's soft spot. Both young men are incredibly busy in their professional lives, but when Susan visited them in San Francisco or Maimi they always rolled out the red carpet. "Her boyz" as she called them gave her a great love of big city life. Gray is and always will be Susan's baby. Anytime he could come home to visit he would sit on Susan's lap the same way he did as a toddler. 

When Susan was only 48 she was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer. As the strong woman she was, she had two surgeries, chemo and radiation. Unfortunately the cancer returned this past year and she needed to have a kidney removed to fight it. She had to endure several painful surgeries over the years to stay one step ahead of that awful disease. Unfortunately she lost her valiant fight.

She is preceded in death by her father Brant, her daughter Katy and son in law Charlie. Leaving behind missing her whit and smile are her Mother Janet, Husband Dave, Children Abigail (Dave), Grayson (Brandon), her grandchildren Emma Leigh, Zackary Brant, and Lucas Don.

There will be a viewing Tuesday, January 14, 2025 from 12:00-1:30 p.m. at Russon Mortuary, 295 North Main, Bountiful. Graveside services will follow at 2:00 p.m. at Lakeview Cemetery, 1640 East Lakeview Dr., Bountiful, Utah.