You might remember Susie as one of the servers at the Wigwam, or wondered what happened to that familiar face who’s topped off your coffee for the last 29 years. If so, you’ll be saddened to learn Susanne Lynn Foster of Fernley passed away in Reno, NV on May 16, 2026, having retired less than a year ago due to illness. She’d like to remind her grandchildren she was six seven years old.
Sue wasn’t from Fernley originally, she was born January 23, 1959 in San Pedro, CA. Her father, a Korean war veteran, settled there after being discharged from the Navy. Her childhood was spent between San Pedro, Sacramento where her grandparents lived, and Gardnerville. She briefly attended Douglas High School where, for better or for worse, she met Stevan Palmer of Topaz, CA. They wed in 1982. Stevan was a miner by trade, and Sue followed him to such exciting places as Round Mountain, Carson Hill, Sonora, and Lovelock before reaching Fernley in 1994.
Along the way they had three children and took in two more after Sue’s brother tragically passed away. They suddenly had five kids under six, without being Catholic. Much of Sue’s life was dedicated to being a mother. She was an involved and encouraging parent, sincerely amazed at every small achievement, cherishing every scribble, and bragging about her children to anyone who’d listen. Her family thanks everyone who humored her.
Mining isn’t steady work. Whenever Stevan was unemployed Sue would work to support her family. In October 1996 she began working at Mary and Moe’s Wigwam. She kept the job even after Stevan found work, after their divorce in 2007, and after all her children left home. She kept at it for 29 years!
She never professed any special love for her job. She sometimes professed the opposite. So why did she spend so much of her life there, on the floor and in the bar? Well, her job was just her excuse to meet someone new every day, smile with them, and brag about her kids as soon as they were trapped in a booth. To be a helpful ray of sunshine to anyone who needed it. Not as waitress, but as a human being.
Susanne was predeceased by her brother Dennis Foster and mother Joan Louise Ritenour. She is survived by her father Donald “Frosty” Foster, her children Garth, Joanne, Callie, George, and Aaron, and her grandchildren Gabriel, Adriana, Jameson, Emily, Ayano, and Grant. She will be missed.
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