Suella M. Hoolihan

Suella M. Hoolihan was born in Mt. Clemens, Michigan on Sept 15, 1944 to the late Romandus C. Brinker and Elizabeth Marie Brinker (nee Fessler). Suella attended Sacred Heart in Roseville from kindergarten through high school. She was an exceptional student, and proved to be a lifelong learner, taking an assortment of college and enrichment courses through the years. She landed first on beauty school and became a stylist with her own basement salon and a steady clientele. During this career, she settled in Roseville with her first husband, Wayne, and her three children. The very definition of a busy mother, she volunteered for every activity from bake sale, to room mother, to making popcorn for school fairs, all the while working at restaurants and retail to help support her family. She encouraged a love of reading in her children and supported them wholeheartedly in school and beyond in all their chosen endeavors. Her creativity was boundless – a born musician, she was adept at the accordion and piano (the right-hand piano, she would joke). She sewed, crocheted, and made countless arts and crafts, and became very popular at craft shows throughout Michigan. She excelled at organizing family reunions and children’s birthday parties, devising clever games and activities – and always making sure each child won a prize. Later, she moved with her family to Macomb, Michigan, where she eventually met and married Terry Hoolihan, a fellow student from her Sacred Heart days, and worked at one of her favorite jobs, as a clerk at Minnesota Fabrics. She loved traveling with her husband, enjoying cross-country drives as well as cruises, but especially Michigan trips– staying sometimes at their own cabin, sometimes exploring all throughout “Up North”. Active and a bit athletic, Suella won numerous bowling trophies, was quite a good baseball player in the yard with the kids, and was a champion at her family’s invented game of bean bags (an earlier – superior - version of the game now known as cornhole) She was energetic and efficient and a leisurely walking pace was unknown to her, at work or on vacation. She loved cats, watermelon (nicknamed “Watermelon Grandma” by her grandson), shopping (especially at Walmart), watching hockey, fishing and so many other things. Charming, often generous, and with a sharp sense of humor, she was quick to make friends, finding a few treasured “keepers” among them. She is survived by her husband, Terrance Hoolihan, daughter Stephanie Nichols (Jim Hazen), son Wayne (Cynthia Wagner), grandson Conrad, sister Charlotte Bernardo, and stepchildren Amy Hoolihan, Michael Hoolihan (Jesse), and Katie Hoolihan, and a large extended family. Suella will also be deeply missed by her ever loving feline companion, Piper. Suella is predeceased by her parents, daughters Barbara and Jennifer Nichols, brothers Mandy and Chuck Brinker and sister Bette Brinker. Visitation will be Monday (August 5) 2-8 p.m. at the Wasik Funeral Home, Inc., 11470 Thirteen Mile Road (west of Hoover) Warren. A Funeral Service for Suella will be 11 a.m. on Tuesday (August 6) at the Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Roseville.

Suella M. Hoolihan

September 15, 1944 - July 25, 2024