Nov. 25--In the mid-1970s, Susan Gustafson and her husband became frustrated with services available to their teenage son, Robert, who was born with cerebral palsy and other severe health issues that left him deaf.
They joined the Over the Rainbow Association in Evanston, which was formed a few years earlier by a group of parents wanting to ensure that their disabled children had a place to live after the parents were too old to take care of them.
Gustafson, and her husband, Don, quickly became a driving force in creating homes for the disabled. Don Gustafson, who died in 2009, quit his job as a Sears executive and used his business contacts to help the not-for-profit move forward with its ambitious plans.
Susan Gustafson, 88, died of complications related to Alzheimer's disease Oct. 28 at a memory-care facility in Costa Mesa, Calif., near her daughter's home, her family said.
Described as Over the Rainbow's "heart and soul," Susan Gustafson took on tasks such as bookkeeping, writing grant proposals and organizing fundraisers that she followed up with handwritten thank you notes to donors.
"While Don was the dreamer, focusing on the big picture, Susan was the one behind the scenes and putting the rubber to the road," said Eric Huffman, longtime executive director of Over the Rainbow.
Over the Rainbow's first building was at Halsted Street and Belden Avenue in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. In 1990, the group opened Hill Arboretum Apartments, financed through a government loan, community block grants and corporate and private donations. Hill Arboretum includes more than 30 units in the former Evanston Hospital building and provides chairlifts to allow independent living.
Gustafson's son, now 54, was one of its first residents and still in a Hill Arboretum apartment today.
"Before this building was built, the only other option my brother had was to live in a nursing home," said Gustafson's daughter Mary Ann King. "The idea of a younger person living in that kind of an environment was not only depressing, it just didn't make good business sense."
Today, Over the Rainbow manages 10 affordable apartment buildings around northern Illinois, including one named in honor of Gustafson and her husband, the Gustafson Apartments in Waukegan. A plan is underway to open an 11th building in northern Cook County.
"I think Bobby said it best when he typed a few words about our mother after she died," King said. "Using one finger, he typed, 'Mom always smiles. She is happy. She kisses me. I love mom. I miss her.'"
A former longtime board member for Over the Rainbow, Gustafson also helped organize an annual fundraising concert, now in its 26th year, with her daughter Nancy Gustafson, an acclaimed opera singer.
"She was the perfect example of an ordinary person who did extraordinary things," King said. "She used to say that every family has its challenges, but every family also has its resources."
During the construction of Hill Arboretum Apartments, Gustafson and her husband had the chance to fulfill a long-held dream of taking a trip alone together -- an Alaskan cruise.
"She was so excited," King recalled. "It'd been years since my parents had gotten away, mostly because when my brother was younger, she didn't feel comfortable leaving him in the care of others."
But as the project neared completion, Don Gustafson was faced with a slew of cost overruns that temporarily halted the final phase of construction on the building.
"Without saying a word, Mom returned the cruise tickets and then took the money and put it towards the bills owed to contractors," King said. "When I asked her about it, she just smiled and said, 'I never really wanted to go to Alaska, anyway!'"
Born and raised Susan Warner in Dixon, Ill., Gustafson graduated from Northwestern University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in music in 1949. The same year she married Don Gustafson, a fellow student, and they raised their family in Evanston.
"I never forgot what she once told me about the secret to a happy marriage,'" recalled King. "She said, 'The great ones always have a dreamer and a realist.'"
Other survivors include a son, David; a sister, Elizabeth McElroy; three grandsons, and four great-grandsons.
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Dec. 11 at St. James Cathedral, 65 East Huron St., Chicago.
Giangrasse-Kates is a freelance reporter.
