Susan Ann Lindberg (nee Nichols), 74, of Oak Park, died on Oct. 31, 2020. An actor, director, choreographer, dancer, and writer, she was one of the founding members of the community theater group Oak Park Musical Theatre (OPMT). In her long teaching career with District 97, she pioneered and ran the Integrated Arts Program at Emerson/Brooks Middle School creating countless original theatrical works based on her students’ curriculum. She directed Children’s Theatre for Village Players and directed, choreographed, or starred in local productions in Oak Park and Chicago.
In her retirement, she became heavily involved with the Ernest Hemingway Foundation giving tours at Hemingway’s Birthplace. She also performed in the Historical Society’s Cemetery Walk, portraying characters, such as Emma Goldman and Grace Hall Hemingway.
An avid reader, world traveler, and connoisseur of Cary Grant movies, she loved her husband, children, and friends fiercely.
Susan was the wife of the late Roger; the mother of Eric Lindberg and Kate Lindberg-Vazquez (Myrna Vazquez); the grandmother of Matheos; daughter of the late Robert and Rosetta Nichols; sister of the late Robert E. Nichols Jr. and the late Gail Esposito; and the aunt, great aunt, friend and teacher of many.
In lieu of flowers please make donations to the ACLU, the Democratic Party of Oak Park, or the Ernest Hemingway Foundation.
A Celebration of Life event will be announced and held at a later date, post-pandemic, when it is safe to gather.
Interment at Oak Ridge Cemetery was private.
