Resident of Los Gatos

Suzanne M. Austin, M.D., died peacefully on May 8 their beloved home at the age of 70, after a courageous battle with cancer. Suzanne was born on May 24, 1954, in Palo Alto, California. Her father, Norman A. Austin, was a Silicon Valley engineer and her mother, Phyllis Jean Roach Austin, was an accomplished artist. Suzanne grew up with her older sister, Melissa (Missy), in Los Altos Hills. Suzanne and Melissa were both avid tennis players at Fremont Hills Country Club and attended Gunn High School in Palo Alto where Suzanne was valedictorian.

While attending Stanford University, Suzanne made many friends and graduated in 1976. She went to Stanford-in-England during her Sophomore year. She then attended medical school at Case Western University and earned her M.D. degree in 1983. She did her internship and residency at UC Davis and Los Angeles, respectively, and completed a fellowship at Stanford Medical School. She opened her own successful medical practice in San Jose in 1992. Suzanne was beloved by both her patients and staff and was a devoted mentor.

Suzanne married William (Bill) H.Drennan in 1994 in a beautiful hillside ceremony. They made their home in Los Gatos. Together, they renovated a medical building for Suzanne’s practice that was filled with many of her of mother’s paintings. They always had pets in their home. Suzanne was especially fond of their most recent Chesapeake Bay retriever, Watson.

Suzanne also loved toswim, and up to the point she still could, she would go to the club and swim amile. She loved the beach and spent her honeymoon, 10th and 20th wedding anniversaries at their beloved Hanalei Bay on the Island of Kauai.

Travel was one of Suzanne’s passions. With her family, she lived in Roskilde Denmark in 1960, where she met life-long friends, Jens and Bente Lebech. She often visited them in Denmark. Her family also stayed with family friends, the Abou Taleb family, in Egypt in 1963, and she went there again while in college. Suzanne and Melissa visited Lake Como together in the early 1990s and she traveled in Europe with her Belgian friend Marian Heidtman.

Despite her progressing illness, Suzanne’s final trip was to attend a wedding in Ghana with her friend and colleague, Clementine Odamtten, in 2024. The family is grateful to Clementine her help during Suzanne’s illness, as well as her close friends Julia Shuleshko and Irene Valdez.

Suzanne is predeceased by her parents Norman and Phyllis Austin. She is survived by her husband, Bill Drennan, her sister, Dr. Melissa Austin, and many cousins, including Dr. Christopher Roach, the cousin she saw the most, and his wife Jennifer Levine of San Francisco, CA.

AMass will be held at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center located at 300 College Avenue in Los Gatos, CA at 10 AM sharp on Saturday, May 24, 2025. Reception to follow at a different location. Memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society in Suzanne’s memory.