Blackmun was 'ahead of her time'
5/3/2008 7:22:35 AM
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By Dawn Schuett

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

Lifelong friends of Susan Blackmun admired the intelligence, courage and compassion of the woman they considered "ahead of her time."

Blackmun, the youngest daughter of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun and his wife, Dorothy, was 58 when she died April 15 at her Orlando, Fla., home. Two years ago, she was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig's disease.

Dagny Bilkadi met Susan "Susie" Blackmun when the two were just in nursery school in Rochester. During their childhood years, they formed strong bonds with each other's families.

"She was the kind of person who once she knew you and loved you, she would get to know your whole family and love them," said Bilkadi, who was known as Beth Svien when she graduated with Blackmun from Mayo High School in 1967.

Even as a girl, Blackmun's daring spirit was obvious, along with her love for animals and nature. Blackmun played with the pet mice that Bilkadi got as a birthday gift one year, crawled over a barbed wire fence into a pasture to sing to cows and convinced Bilkadi and two other friends to sign up for a wilderness program in Ely, Minn., the summer after their junior year.

"I think she was the most adventurous, rebellious one in her family," said Bilkadi who now lives in Mahtomedi, Minn. "Even so, she was well loved."

Blackmun graduated from DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., in 1971, two years before her father wrote the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion nationwide.

"I always thought that she and her sisters were the reason that we have Roe v. Wade because they were very strong women at a time before women really spoke out, but they did," said friend Michael Pappas of Rochester. "I thought they were great for the women's movement -- the whole family."

After working as a research psychologist at the Naval Medical Research Institute in Maryland and learning to dive despite encountering discrimination, Susan Blackmun left the country to sail the Mediterranean, Caribbean and South China seas.

Once she returned to the United States, she moved to Orlando, where she worked as a freelance medical writer and nature photographer, according to the Orlando Sentinel newspaper. She also got involved with an animal rescue organization, helping squirrels, opossums and other animals in the aftermath of hurricanes.

No matter where her journeys took her, she stayed in touch with friends, many of whom live in Rochester.

"Rochester was always home to her," said her sister Sally Blackmun of Winter Park, Fla. "We loved coming back and visiting our friends still around."

When Pappas saw Susan Blackmun, they talked about old times, relationships and the challenges of parenthood.

"I don't know that she was so much rebellious as ahead of her time and intelligent, and just a friend everybody would want to have that would not judge you but would just be pretty black and white about things and then you'd be laughing about it," Pappas said.

Through her battle with ALS, Blackmun remained upbeat and even organized "living wakes" to spend quality time with friends, Bilkadi said.

"I was just in awe of her and her courage," she said.

Blackmun is survived by her husband, William Hay Brown of Orlando; daughter, Kaia Blackmun Brown of Minneapolis; and two sisters. Sally A. Blackmun of Winter Park and Nancy C. Blackmun of Framingham, Mass.