Sue Ellen Mueller, nee Tilk, born October 1, 1937, died Wednesday, April 2, 2025, at home surrounded by family and friends.
She was 87 and a longtime resident of Freeburg.
Susie was born in East St. Louis, the third of four children of Henry and Audrey Tilk. She attended St. Patrick’s Elementary School and graduated from St. Teresa’s Academy in 1955.
She went to work at Allstate Insurance, where she met a handsome claims adjuster from Okawville, IL. She married that adjuster, Robert Mueller, on October 26, 1957. They became the proud parents of three daughters, who Susie usually referred to as “MY girls.”
Susie worked for years as the bookkeeper and rodeo/horse show secretary at Arch View Stables in Belleville. She also worked at Whitehead Roofing in Belleville before joining Century Brass, where she worked until retirement.
Susie played every word-find puzzle she could get her hands on and was a notorious cheater during Scrabble games with her daughters. She spent time with her brother, Joe, her daughters and sons-in-law, and her grandchildren. She hosted sleepovers for the grandkids, pumping them full of sugar, salt, and scary movies. After one sleepover, she vowed it was the final one when the granddaughters inadvertently reprogrammed her remote to display closed captions – in Spanish. Luckily, we managed to get it back to English.
Susie loved to gamble and took the occasional trip to Las Vegas with her daughters while making regular forays to the Casino Queen – sometimes with her brother and sometimes with her friend, Erma.
In later years she kept her gambling local and became a frequent donor to the slots at Freeburg Liquor and Rosie’s Video Gaming Lounge. When she didn’t answer her phone, one of her daughters would do a Freeburg drive-by and see her little red Honda at Rosie’s.
Susie provided regular weather updates to her adult children and grandchildren to warn them of forecasts calling for rain or snow, tornadoes or locusts. Most calls included cautions on how to drive in such conditions, and a demand to call to let her know when we arrived – at work, on vacation, at the grocery store – safely.
She was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, a faithful Mass-goer, and a big fan of Father Mark Reyling.
She spent her last three years at the Villas of Hollybrook Assisted Living in Belleville, where she delighted in weekly bingo games and walking to the dining room early in the morning to make coffee – but she remained a Freeburgian at heart.
Susie was preceded in death by her husband, Bob, who died in 1986; her parents; her brothers, Joseph and Richard; her sister, Donna Kelly; and a daughter, Andrea Elise.
She is survived by her daughters: Donna (Kevin) Mulholland, of Freeburg; Marla (Bill) Vollmer, of Freeburg; and Mandy (Jim) St. Amand, of Freeburg; six grandchildren, Bob (Kelsey) Vollmer of New Castle, CO, Kelly (Kevin) Lane of The Colony, TX, Sarah (Tim) LaRose of Silt, CO, Molly (Mitch) Deter of Aurora, CO, Colleen (fiancée Colin Lousignont) Mulholland of The Colony, TX, and Reed (Mariah) Davis of St. Louis, MO; six great-grandchildren, Weston, Lena, and Kinley Vollmer, Sawyer and Lanie LaRose, and Grant Deter; and a multitude of nieces and nephews.
Memorials may be made to St. Joseph Catholic Church, Freeburg, IL, or the Belleville Area Humane Society. Condolences may be expressed to the family online at www.rennerfh.com.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
