Susan Grace Pendergrass

Susan Grace Pendergrass, 76, passed away unexpectedly on August 24, 2026, in Chicago, Illinois. She was born on May 30, 1950, in Durham, North Carolina, to Luther Ervin Pendergrass and Mary Mullahey Pendergrass.

Susan graduated from Sacred Heart College in Belmont, North Carolina, and earned a Master’s Degree in Urban Development from St. Louis University. She dedicated more than 40 years of service to the Railroad Retirement Board in Chicago, retiring in 2015 as a Debt Management Operations Specialist.

Susan loved Chicago, especially its art museums and Lincoln Park Zoo. She was kind, intelligent, and very funny, and she often shared stories of holding on to streetlamps while waiting for the bus during Chicago winters. She also had a lifelong love of fashion.

Susan was predeceased by her parents, Luther and Mary Pendergrass, and by her three younger brothers, George Ervin Pendergrass, John Luther Pendergrass, and James David Pendergrass.

She is survived by her two younger sisters, Mary Pendergrass Sochacki and her husband, Walt, and Carol Pendergrass Wheeless and her husband, Bob; her niece, Mary Jeannette Sochacki; and her nephews, Michael Pendergrass, David Pendergrass, Luke Wheeless, and John Wheeless.

In remembrance of Susan, please visit a favorite Chicago museum or zoo.