Susan Marie Rake

Susan Marie Rake (Sue, Susie) left this beautiful life on 1/4/2026 – she is on another of her fine adventures. Sue’s humor could make you laugh til you cry, and was followed by her self-satisfied smile. She was always up for a game of Euchre.

Born on July 31, 1955, the fourth child in a family that was blessed with 6 children. Her youthful exploration of the family farm were building blocks for her adventures in life.

Sue started school at the Van Buren one room schoolhouse, which she was humbly proud of. She honed friends and sewing skills in the Calba-Winners 4-H Club and graduated from Columbus High School where she was a Cardinal cheerleader. She received a degree at UW LaCrosse refining her creative skills in art and design. Shortly after, Sue attended UW Madison and obtained a degree in Agricultural Journalism.

Sue’s career centered in Advertising and Marketing – starting with radio and eventually billboard and TV for Madison and Dane County businesses and public entities. If you knew Sue’s creative bent, you could pick out her ads from their simplicity and creativity. She had impeccable wit and ability to capture people’s attention. After retirement from advertising and marketing, she curated the old or unique – antiques, one of a kinds, and even retro advertising; all which she sold at local stores.

Sue was a photographer - capturing life experiences and art and artful design. Every family event or adventure in nature Sue saw and captured thru the lens of a camera. Many a grizzly or wolf has been immortalized in her photography. Travels took her, sometimes solo, to beauty throughout Canada and Alaska - traveling from her home to these places, thousands of miles, in 3 different Jeeps. Highlights being Denali, White Pass/Klondike Highway panning for gold, and grizzly fishing salmon on Kodiak Island. Most autumns Sue took trips to Yellowstone to hear the bugling elk, visit Lamar Valley, and ‘stay awhile’. An excursion on a sunny day exploring where all roads lead to and from her home was her joy.

Sue enjoyed sitting on her deck, shared her oranges and jam with the Orioles. She enjoyed the chatter of parent wrens and fledglings in flight from her window, her yard fed and nurtured the Monarch’s life cycle.

Following extensive medical care, in 2010 Sue was invited to and participated in a testimony to congress in Washington DC. The goal was to provide input on what did and what did not work in health care, and its co-partners: insurance and systems.

Sue is survived by her siblings, Lois (Steven) Mathews, Robert (Lu Ann) Rake, Marilyn (Dennis) Arkowski, Douglas (Jean) Rake, and Nola Allen. Nieces and Nephews Heather Marquardt, Bryan Chesen, Eric Arkowski, Sarah Arkowski, Brandon Rake, Auston Rake, Payden Allen and Saylor Allen, and several great nieces and nephews. Sue was preceded in death by her parents Oscar and Hazel (Duenow) Rake, grandparents, aunts and uncles - whom she revered.

Sue asked us to remember people who may need help to get through tough times. With this thought, we ask that as a memorial to Sue, please pay it forward to those who might need some help.

No memorial services have been planned at this time. Once determined it will be posted to this site.

A parting thought from Sue- “What if you woke up this morning and had only the things you thanked God for yesterday?” Max Lucado