Susan M. Kirchgessner, 76, of Galesburg, Illinois passed away peacefully Monday, February 24, 2025, at her home with her husband, Dan by her side.
Sue was born on March 27, 1948, in Galesburg, the daughter of Robert and Marjorie (Dixon) Hicks. She graduated from Costa Catholic High School in 1966 and received her bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from Marquette University 1972. Sue later earned her master’s degree in early childhood special education from Illinois State University in 1978. She specialized in her physical therapy practice concentrating on children aged 0-2, all that she dearly loved and treated as her own, for over 50 years.
She married Thomas Searl and from that union they had three children, Jason (Chrissy) Searl of Wichita, Kansas, Jodi (Scott) Searl and Jennifer (Jeff) Palleschi both of Vero Beach, Florida. She later married Dan Kirchgessner, their family grew as Dan has two children, Greg (Beth) Kirchgessner of Abingdon, Illinois and Gayla (Dan) Hicks of Galesburg. She is survived by her husband, Dan; their children; her sister-in-law, Cheryl Hicks Johnson of Alpha, Illinois; nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Michael Hicks.
Sue was a faithful member of both Corpus Christi Catholic Church and Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church. Sue was a caregiver at heart, she lived her life helping children, loving her children and all of her grandchildren. Sue and Dan had strong family values and traditions. Vacationing with their children and grandchildren every year to Florida, snow skiing in Winter Park, Colorado and traveling to Indy for time trials and the races.
Visitation will be from 4:00-6:00 pm Thursday, March 20, 2025, with the Rosary prayed at 4:00 pm, at Hinchliff-Pearson-West Funeral Directors and Cremation Services Galesburg Chapel. Funeral Mass is scheduled for 11:30 am Friday, March 21, 2025, at Corpus Catholic Church with Rev. Jeffrey Stirniman officiating. In lieu of flowers, Memorial gifts may be made to the Galesburg Community Foundation for benefit of the Kirchgessner’s Care for Kids fund https://gcf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=2320
Online condolences may be offered at www.h-p-w.com
