Faces in the Crowd: Sue Weisburg
Craft shows on Saturdays, church on Sundays.
With spring just around the corner, that’s where you’ll find Sue Weisburg for the foreseeable future.
As a member of St. Agnes Catholic Church, faith is a big part of Sue’s life. It’s kept her grounded, and inspired her to look out for others. She volunteers with the Grub to Go Marion Elementary school food program, and she’s the secretary of the Twentieth Century Club.
After retiring from Buick in Flint, Sue and her husband made the move to Marion in the late ‘90s. Shortly thereafter, she took up making purses as a hobby.
Now, every Saturday from March through October, Sue takes her purses to the Farwell Farmer’s Market. She loves it, and she’s really good at it. Her purses are beautiful.
We caught up with Sue recently where we learned a little bit more about her story. We learned that Sue Weisburg is more than just another face in the crowd.
Marion Press: Where were you born and raised? What was life like growing up?
Sue: I was born and raised in Flint. Lived in Flint, graduated from Flint Central in ’76. Life was good. We lived in a neighborhood where everybody’s house looked the same. We’d have a bunch of kids play ball; life was good in Flint back then. It was Mom and dad [Jack and Ethel Daniels] and three of us kids. Mom passed away when I was 15, and Dad just passed away last year. Mom left early, and he was 92.
I was in the marching band – that was fun. Got all A’s in school. Right after high school I got my beauty license to do hair, and then I went to work at Buick as a pipefitter. I worked at Buick for 20 years – I was a journeyman pipefitter.
MP: So you worked at Buick for 20 years? Did you enjoy that?
Sue: It was good money. I didn’t like it one bit – I wasn’t suited for that! But you get in there, you get the good money and the good benefits: how do you leave? While I was there, I got my bachelor’s degree in industrial management. I did enjoy the camaraderie at Buick. I made good friends; we kind of hung out together. I enjoyed the people.
MP: How’d you meet your husband?
Sue: I met Jerry at a religious convention in Detroit – he’s a retired Detroit police officer. My church bunch went down there for a convention, and he was on duty. He looked so handsome in his uniform! We knew each other for six months and were married in ’89. He has three kids, so I have three step kids, and five grandkids.
MP: At some point, you made the move to Marion. How’d that come about?
Sue: He’d been coming up here his whole life. That was his plan, when he retired, was to move up here. What brought us up here were retirement plans; dreams to get out of the big city. He had to live in the city limits in Detroit because he was a cop. So that first year, I drove back and forth from Flint to Detroit.
He retired in ’97 and moved up here. I still worked another two years and retired in ’99.
MP: What do you enjoy the most about living up here? What were your first impressions of Marion?
Sue: Just the quiet, and peacefulness. It’s just a slower way of life. A slower pace. People were very friendly. A bunch of good, friendly people. When I lived in Flint, in an apartment, I didn’t even know the people on the other side of that wall. But up here, you know everybody. You know your neighbors.
We have a good life up here. It’s a good lifestyle. We enjoy the town. We enjoy the people. There’s enough to keep busy. A lot of people that lived down state say, “If I lived up there, what would I do? There’s no stores…” You just get involved. You just do it. There’s plenty to do.
MP: When did faith become such a big part of your life?
Sue: Through the influence of other friends in my 20s. My friends went to church, and got me to go. When I was a kid, we’d go to Catholic church on Christmas and Easter, but I didn’t understand… Now I’m a member of St. Agnes – been a member for 20 years. Faith is a big part of my life. My faith says that we should look out for others – that’s why I’m always looking for volunteer opportunities.
MP: What keeps you busy in your free time?
Sue: We both hunt. I’m a deer hunter. I got a nice buck this past year, a nine point – that’s unusual in our area, I was quite surprised. I have a booth at the farmer’s market in Farwell all summer. I make purses. I got into that about 10 years ago. I was just looking for something to kind of fill in the time, and so I happened to take a class. From March until the first of October, the farmer’s market is every Saturday.
I try to keep 20 to 30 purses in stock at all times. If I can get 10 purses done in a month, I’m happy. I also do the craft show at the Eagles every fall, and then I do the McBain show at the high school in November. Making purses is my hobby.
MP: What do you enjoy the most about making purses?
Sue: The creativity. The picking of the beautiful fabric. That’s what I enjoy the most. The best part is going to the fabric store, seeing what’s there, and picking out the beautiful stuff. It’s amazing that after so long – I’ve made around 600 purses – to still want to do it. If it was anything else, no way. But I still do.
MP: What else keeps the Weisburg family busy?
Sue: We get a lot of company throughout the winter. My husband doesn’t like to just sit around, so he keeps me motivated. He goes to the U.P. every other week to rabbit hunt, and we have six outside dogs, so they keep us busy. He’s very outdoorsy; plus, he’s got 40 acres to play with, so he’s always staying busy. He’s always got a lot of projects to do, and he won’t put off until tomorrow what he can do today.
MP: What is the best advice that you’ve ever been given? Any words of wisdom that have worked for you?
Sue: Trust in God. Don’t sweat the small stuff because he has it under control.
