Susan Zelda Wold

Susan Zelda Peck, was born April 24, 1947, in Salt Lake City, Utah to delighted parents Eugene Peck and Elda Shafer Peck. She was reportedly a beautiful baby, well loved by her family. Susan grew up with siblings Regina, Elbert, and Lyle, in a shared family home with her grandparents. They lived in Salt Lake City for many years until they eventually moved to Bountiful, Utah, when Susan was a young teenager. From her time there, Susan fondly remembered summer trips to Lagoon, Bear Lake, Yellowstone,Bryce Canyon, and Grand Canyon, and sharing Thanksgiving holidays with extended family in Idaho, as well other holidays in California.

Susan's teenage years were full of fun and creativity, discovery and exploration.She spent time making crafts at her grandmother's, playing church sports, and neighborhood sandlot games - she was a fierce baseball catcher and loved the game.Susan dabbled in other various activities. She had swimming instruction, dance and ballet classes, art and oil painting lessons, and enthusiastically sang songs from musicals, though like her father, she couldn't carry a tune, which she later shared as a family joke. Her love of books began as a toddler and turned into a passion that would later drive her education and career. Her siblings referred to her as not just a bibliophile,but a bibliomaniac.

After graduating from Bountiful High School in 1965, Susan started classes at the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City and began dating Richard Green, a medical student. In September of 1967, Richard and Susan married and began living in married student housing at the U. Their marriage lasted just over two years, ending amicably, in part due to Richard's busy medical student schedule and their young ages. She always stated  that Richard was a good man.

In 1970, Susan moved to Virginia to live with her parents, who had moved, and where she subsequently met and dated Phil Paull. They were married in June 1970 and moved to Gaithersburg, Maryland, where, three years later, in 1973, they welcomed their son David. Susan received so much joy being a mother and was delighted when,five years later, she gave birth in 1978 to another son, Douglas. Sadly, five months after his birth, while the family was visiting Phil's parents in Salt Lake City, baby Douglas was discovered dead one morning from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Though Phil and Susan tried to maintain their relationship, the trauma of losing Douglas ultimately ended up fracturing their marriage, and in 1983 they divorced.

Susan soon met Steven Wold, an Air Force Officer at church, and after a brief period of dating, they were married in the Washington, D.C., Temple on March 9, 1984. Initially, they lived in Maryland, but soon moved to Centerville, Virginia, for Steve's work. To the marriage, Steve brought five children, and Susan brought her son David. They later added Andrew in 1985 and Samuel in 1988. They were not quite successful in blending their families together, causing tension in the home. As the older children matured, they moved out quickly, leaving Susan to parent the young Andrew and Samuel in a much smaller household. 

With more time to devote to the two children, Susan took great interest in their education and utilized her love of books and learning to homeschool Andrew and Sam.She became part of a homeschool co-op where several different parents took turns educating the children on different subjects they specialized in. Susan was an avid historian and loved taking the boys and the homeschool group to many of the museums, monuments, and historical sites in the greater DC area, which her sons later recalled with fondness. During this time, she and her husband Steve founded their business, American Home School Publishing, specializing in providing out of print fiction that was historically accurate while also engaging. They sold their books to friends,homeschool groups, and at many homeschooling conventions, later utilizing the internet for more far-reaching sales.

In 2001 Steve suffered a heart attack, which led to an early retirement. Steve and Susan chose to retire in the Missouri countryside, settling down in Cameron in 2006. While Andrew served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a teenaged Samuel helped Steve and Susan move all the inventory for their business and their personal belongings to Missouri. Susan primarily ran the company on her own for many years, until her health necessitated her retirement. As she tended to Steve and began a prolific garden, vineyard, and orchard, Susan adored being able to grow food and always had pots growing on the front porch. She especially loved being able to make jams from the fruit, and salads with her fresh produce. She also spent hundreds of hours preserving food for anyone who may need it. Susan loved a good bargain and made the best use of community yard sales to find children’s clothes that she could and did share with anyone in need. She served in her church and community and loved making connections with other like-minded women. For 15 years, Susan held a monthly ladies game night that began with church friends and expanded as they invited others in the community. With her dedication to providing a much-needed time out for women to recharge and reconnect, she was very happy to have only cancelled three months across all 15 years, due to the worst of the winter weather. She loved her game nights and adored the friends that she made and the time spent fostering relationships with them.

With the marriages of her sons, Susan welcomed 13 grandchildren to her family.For several years, she was able to enjoy weekly Grandma Dates, and for a few more years between Andrew and Samuel, she had grandchildren living in her home. Susan reveled in being a grandmother and thoroughly enjoyed reading to her grandchildren,playing games with them, and teaching them to garden, though most of their gardening efforts were spent splashing dirt and the water hose everywhere, and getting berry stains on anything they touched.

After the passing of her beloved Steve in 2020, Susan's health declined, and her family ultimately moved her to be near them in Utah. During the five years that she lived there, Susan was able to enjoy visits from her sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren. She also had visits from friends periodically, and her mother and brothers came down weekly to play games and visit until her mother passed away in 2023, with her brothers continuing the tradition until Susan passed away. Her son Samuel passed away a month after Susan’s mother died, adding to Susan’s heartbreak. Her health slowly continued to decline, and after a brief time on hospice following an infection,Susan peacefully passed away on October 13, 2026 after farewell visits from her surviving sons David and Andrew, and phone calls from her grandchildren. Susan was cremated and will be honored in a celebration of life in Cameron, Missouri, with friends and family on Friday, November 6, 2026. Susan’s ashes will be interred in the Missouri Veterans Cemetery at Higginsville, next to her husband Steve in a private family event.