out·li·er (noun) a person or thing differing from all other members of a particular group or set

In statistics an outlier is a piece of data that is far from the rest; think of a graph with dots, where most dots are clustered together in the middle, but one dot, the outlier, is at the top. Suzanne was an outlier.

Following a long and courageous battle, Suzanne passed away in hospital with family by her side at the age of 48 on February 9, 2025. She will be lovingly remembered by her husband McLean and their children Gabriel, Finlay and Graydon. Dearly missed by her parents Ross and Sandra Smith, siblings Erin (Ian) Gilbart and Steven (Melanie) Smith, mother-in-law Walda (Robert) Wood, sisters-in-law Jackie (Sante Mauti) Wood and Tracey (Clive Katz) Wood, and her little dog Abby who was never far from her side. She was a devoted aunt to Emily, Ben, Matthew, Jack, Lauren, Deacon, Emma (Paul), Clara, Sam, and Jake.

Suzanne was loved by many friends, neighbours and colleagues at Norton Rose Fulbright where she served as Chief Client Services Officer for many years. Suzanne loved spending time in nature with her boys, camping, hiking, canoeing and skiing, playing board games and devoted her time and energy to cancer research advocacy, serving as a patient representative on many conference panels and in an official capacity helping others navigate the complexities of clinical trials via her work with the Canadian Cancer Trials Group. She was an avid knitter and many babies and children were wrapped in a soft Suzanne creation over the past few years (She was known to ask hospital staff: Does anyone have any knitting needs?).

The family would like to thank the many physicians, nurses, therapists and personal support workers at the Odette Cancer Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre for their care and concern of our beloved outlier. Always thinking of others, she loved to bring people together to celebrate any occasion and lived life to the fullest. The family will receive visitors at an informal gathering on Sunday, February 23 between 2:00pm-4:00pm at the Mount Pleasant Funeral Centre, 375 Mount Pleasant Road, Toronto, M4T 2V8 (416-485-5572). A private family ceremony will be held at a later date.

If desired, in lieu of flowers, support/donations can be made to Team Semi-Colon (BumRun 2025 in support of colon cancer prevention and research): https://raceroster.com/events/2025/96001/bumrun-toronto-2025/pledge/team/771565