Susan Kovach was my sister. We shared a bedroom when I was a little kid. She would think of songs for us to sing at night. She would take me and my friends for picnics in the park. She would build kites for us, (back in the day when you had to glue them together yourself and make a tail out of nylons). I would massage her back for her when she was sitting at her desk studying. Sometimes she would hide under my bed and grab my ankle as I went by or hide in the closet and jump out at me when I opened the door. Every year she would put together a Birthday party for me and my little brother as our birthdays were one day apart. Pin the tail on the Donkey, Croquet, hot dogs, birthday cake and ice cream. We would play duets on the piano. She would race me to see who could make our beds faster in the morning. And she loved Christmas. December 25th was her birthday.
Susan, whose maiden name was Brown, was one of the first students to walk across the stage to receive her Bachelors Degree at SFU. She was extremely intelligent. In 1970-1975 my father, RCMP Superintendent was transferred to the Edmonton Lab. Susan was hired without even telling him and worked there for many years as a Toxicologist with her Dad as her boss! Later in life she got a degree as a Master Accountant and worked for Dow Chemical. Then she got her Teaching Degree and ended up back in B.C. Teaching at Walnut Grove.
Susan tutored me in Grade 6,7,8,9, and 10 and I received straights A’s in all of my subjects and was consistently exempt from all of the year-end tests! She had a way of making people learn – not just reading material – but actually doing the chemical tests and figuring them out, visualizing by looking at pictures of places for geography, practicing and understanding and looking up words for English and how to memorize. To this day I remember A,B,B,B,D,K,L,M,M,M,P,S,T,T,T. Those are the first initial of the last name of all the Prime Ministers of Canada. Well, back in 1974 that is. The easy part then was just to fill in the rest of their name. (Which I can still do.)
Teaching was definitely Susans calling. I know initially she would be somewhat strict with students, till they got to know her fun loving side that is. I recall a story she told me about teaching a Chemistry class. There was some liquid she poured into a pan, then she placed a drop of a chemical into the liquid and that blob shot across the pan. She asked her students “Why did the chemical race across the pan?” One student said, “To get to the other side.” Well, the whole class started laughing, but Susan had not heard what the fellow had said. Susan said loudly, “WHAT DID YOU SAY?” The young fellows face turned beet red as the rest of the class stopped laughing and stared at him. Susan said again, “WHAT DID YOU SAY?” The fellow repeated what he said and Susan started to laugh and she laughed so much she had to leave the room.
That incident broke that ice barrier that she liked to initially personify and all that classroom of students spread the word that Mrs. Kovach actually did have a sense of humour. Many of her students would smile at her in the hallways after that. I believe that her humourous trait followed her throughout her many years of teaching.
Susan loved adventure, nature, biking, camping, canoeing, playing badminton, ping pong, and even hiked the West Coast Trail. We also spent many hours playing Scrabble with our entire family. She of course liked to win.
Susan addressed life with amazement, always wanting to examine things to see how they worked, fixing items herself, plumbing, light fixtures, bikes, no matter what, she persevered until the job was complete. She was straightforward, intellectual, thoughtful, down-to earth, but under all that outer persona was an extremely kind, generous, empathetic, fun-loving, playful woman. She was taken from her partner, daughter, brothers, sisters, friends, and colleagues far too early. Christmas has never been the same.
Pat Dairon began the Susan Kovach Memorial Scholarship to honour her. Susan would be extremely pleased that so many have donated in her name to help students continue their education and follow their dreams. She would say, “That’s what life is all about.”
