In loving memory of Susan Friel-Williams - Obituary Baldwin Brothers

Obituary

Susan Elaine Friel-Williams passed away peacefully of natural causes on Thursday, October 21st, 2021 at Hope Hospice in Fort Myers, Florida.

Susan was born March 18th, 1954 to Donna Krumpotic and Leslie Moldenhauer in Sacramento, California. She was adopted by her maternal grandparents Mike and Ida Krumpotic. She attended Greenfield Senior High School in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Susan yearned to meet her birth father and his family, so as a young adult, she set out on a quest to find him and also met several siblings along the way. One of her proudest moments was appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show to share her personal experience and newfound expertise with the world.

This journey led Susan to become a private investigator specializing in reuniting families. In the early days of the internet, she created one of the first reunion registries for adoptees and birth parents to locate one another. Eventually, Susan opened her own firm, Search Quest America, in Cape Coral, Florida. Susan was very proud to be a published author, and contributed a story to Chicken Soup for the Soul. As a former member of the Board of Directors at American Adoption Congress, she attended conferences and advocated for the rights of adoptees and birth parents. Together with her team, Susan reunited thousands of families over the years. She believed “an invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of the time, place, and circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break.”

Her love of animals inspired Susan to raise several litters of pugs over the years. She spent countless hours sitting on her patio talking to her parrot, Sammy, petting her beloved pug Hershey, or even chatting with the squirrels in the yard. She found joy helping strangers navigate their way through their own reunions and felt this was her special calling in life.

Susan was preceded in death by her parents, Donna Krumpotic Corder and Leslie Allen Moldenhauer, and her grandparents Mike and Ida Krumpotic. She is survived by her son Christopher Tangedahl, grandsons Bowen and Bjorn Tangedahl, of Whittier, North Carolina; son Timothy Friel and granddaughter McKya Friel, of Caldwell, Idaho; daughter and son-in-law Mica and Matthew Burton, and granddaughters Adeline and Hazel Burton, of Fort Myers, Florida. She will also be mourned by Lane Williams, her husband of 30 years, and her sisters Debra Amyx of Boise, Idaho and Cecily Marolf of Grand Junction, Colorado.

Condolences for the family may be sent care of Mica Burton, 6819 Plantation Manor Loop, Fort Myers, FL 33966. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 6th, 2021 at 11 am at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, located at 20601 Three Oaks Pkwy, Estero, FL 33928.