Suzanne (Boots) Tinney

On June 24, 2022 Suzanne Boots Tinney passed away at the age of 73 at home in Healdsburg with her family. She was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend. Born in Sacramento and raised in Santa Clara, Suzanne graduated with honors from San Jose State University and Fresno State University with a Masters degree in Social Work. It was at SJSU that she met her husband, Mike Tinney. Together they forged 43 years of marriage and raised four children, Matt, Kathleen, Sean and Alayna. During her years as an adoption social worker, she was known for her ability to write incisive home studies that led to matching families with children. Suzanne had the ability to go deep while interviewing families, see them for who they were, advocate for them, and shepherd both child and family to finalized adoptions. Both at home with her four children and during her years as a social worker, creating a loving family was at the core of who she was, a calling she tended to with grace, dignity, and love. She was a dedicated catholic, and felt a near lifelong kinship to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, whose life story spoke to her own sense of devotion and will to persevere. To many, she was a guardian angel, a confidant, and a source of wisdom and unshakable love. She spent the last years of her life with the same openhearted smile, unchanged by time. Her spirit lives on in those who were blessed to have known her.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 27 at noon at St. John's Church in Healdsburg. A celebration of Suzanne's life will immediately follow in St. John's Hall.

Published in Healdsburg Tribune · August 16, 2022