Susan Margaret Dahm, 82, died on Oct. 20, 2025 with her daughters at her side. Born on March 28, 1943, to Earl and Regina Dickey, she grew up in Altoona, Pennsylvania and spent carefree summers at her favorite place, Eagles Mere.
After graduating from Altoona High School, she studied political science at Denison University in Ohio and spent a summer abroad teaching English to the children of a family in Finland. After college she moved to Washington D.C., and worked for the Department of Justice, traveling to southern states to support a team of lawyers who worked to protect African Americans’ access to polling locations. This marked the beginning of her lifelong advocacy for voting rights and social justice.
After earning a master’s degree in teaching at Northwestern University in Evanston, she taught middle school and coached girl’s lacrosse in Philadelphia. In 1967 she met her husband of 56 years, Arnold Dahm. They wed in 1968 and moved to Cleveland, Ohio where her husband began his career teaching physics at Case Western Reserve University.
While raising her girls, she did substitute teaching, tutoring, selling World Book Encyclopedias and working as a reference librarian at the Cleveland Heights Public Library.
Devoted to many organizations and causes, she was a lifelong volunteer, a strong advocate for the Cleveland Heights public schools and during elections, she consistently served at the local polls. She was a member of the Cleveland Museum of Art Women’s Council, the Clytean Book Club, and the Village Garden Club of Cleveland.
The Church of the Covenant where she served as a deacon was both a church home and a center for long-term friendships. She served as a trustee at Eagles Mere Presbyterian Church and was deeply committed to social justice and gun safety.
They traveled widely and lived abroad in England and Germany.
In 2021, they moved to Brookdale in Oak Park and joined Fair Oaks Presbyterian church.
She will be deeply missed by her daughters, Amy Roehl of Dallas, Texas, and Kristi Dahm of Oak Park, and her three granddaughters.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 11 a.m. at Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church, 744 Fair Oaks Ave., Oak Park to honor Susan’s life and the impact she had on so many.
Donations in Susan’s honor may be made to Chop Out Hunger serving families in the Eagles Mere area https://www.chopouthunger.org/donate-to-chop-out-hunger and the Eagles Mere Presbyterian Church
