Susan Gelatic

Susan Gelatic, 95 of Silver Bay went to be with the Lord on March 20, 2021.   Susan Gelatic was born to Mike and Mary (Tomasula) Hurova in Lucky Slovakia on September 29, 1925.  She was raised in Lucky with one sister and three brothers.  She was a hardworking young woman who had endured many trials in her life while living in Slovakia.  Her father passed away when she was young, and her older brother Mike Hurova stepped in to help provide for her and her siblings.  During her childhood Susan worked in the fields on her family’s farm, she learned to cook and to make materials that she would use to sew clothes and household items for herself and her family.

On February 22, 1946 she married John Gelatic in Slovakia.   Her husband, John moved to the United States in February of 1947.  Susan joined her husband in February of 1948.  Susan traveled to the United States by ship speaking no English and not knowing many people other than her husband.  She taught herself to speak, read and write English and became a U.S. citizen on December 11, 1950.  They lived in Whiting, IN for several years where their son John W. Gelatic was born.  They then moved to Canada where they owned a farm.   In 1956 they moved to Silver Bay, MN where their second son Bill M. Gelatic was born in Two Harbors.  Susan was a homemaker throughout the years and resided in Silver Bay for over 64 years until the time of her death.  She enjoyed working in her garden and tending to her beautiful flowers.

Susan became a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Silver Bay in June of 1995.  She was a very faithful and devoted Catholic who relied on her faith in the Lord to see her through the trials of life.   Susan will be remembered as a loving wife, mother, grandmother and cherished friend. Sue always enjoyed attending the coffee parties that were held with her special lady friends and especially enjoyed her visits and dinners with her close friends Carol and Bob Allar and Marge Jorgensen.  Susan was a kind, generous and loving person.  She loved her family unconditionally and was the ideal role model for her children and grandchildren.   Susan will be dearly missed by all that knew her.

She is survived by her son Bill Gelatic and his wife Debbie of Gillette, WY.  Her grandchildren Randee

(Kellen) Fullenwider and Jon (Amber) Gelatic, Ethan (Kaycee) Smith and Logan (Chelsea) Smith.   Eight great grandchildren, Rhett Fullenwider, Blakely Gelatic, Braelynn Vanderslooth, Emmersyn, James and Freya Smith, Charlie and Carter Smith, several nieces and nephews and many cherished friends.  Two of her great granddaughters Charlie Sue and Blakely Sue share her name.

She was proceeded in death by her husband John Gelatic, son John W. Gelatic, her parents and siblings.

The family asks that any memorials be made in her name to St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Silver Bay, MN.

Visitation will be from 9 AM until the 10 AM Mass of Christian Burial on Tuesday, March 23, 2021 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Silver Bay.