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Susan Schmader, lawyer for Labor Department

Susan M. Jordan Schmader, 57, of Newtown Square, a U.S. Labor Department lawyer for more than three decades, died Thursday, April 28, of ovarian cancer at home.

Susan M. Schmader
Susan M. SchmaderRead more

Susan M. Jordan Schmader, 57, of Newtown Square, a U.S. Labor Department lawyer for more than three decades, died Thursday, April 28, of ovarian cancer at home.

Mrs. Schmader was born and reared in Absecon, N.J. She graduated from Holy Spirit High School, and earned a bachelor's degree in political science and business from Rutgers University.

She received a law degree from Rutgers-Camden School of Law. She was admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

During a 32-year career with the Department of Labor, Mrs. Schmader rose from trial attorney to senior trial attorney and finally to regional counsel in the department's solicitor's office for the last 13 years.

She worked in Philadelphia and retired in December 2015. Soon after retiring, Mrs. Schmader was diagnosed with cancer, said her brother-in-law Barry Schmader.

"She was particularly proud of her 32-year career, and had many accomplishments regarding the safety and health issues of American workers," her family said in a tribute.

MaryBeth Zamer of Nashville wrote in an online remembrance that she enjoyed working with Mrs. Schmader at the Department of Labor.

"She was one of the hardest-working, kindest people I've ever met," Zamer wrote. "No matter how busy she was with her own duties, she always stopped to answer questions and help out. She was gracious and loving beyond measure."

Mrs. Schmader married Robert E. Schmader and the couple raised a family in Newtown Square. He died in 2014 at age 57 of pancreatic cancer.

She is survived by daughter Jaclyn J.; son Daniel J.; her mother, Iva Jordan; and a sister.

A 9:30 a.m. visitation Tuesday, May 3, will be followed by a 10:30 a.m. Funeral Mass at Our Mother of Good Counsel Church, 31 Pennswood Rd., Bryn Mawr, Pa. 19010. Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.

Donations may be made to the American Association for Cancer Research, 615 Chestnut St., 17th Floor, Philadelphia 19106, or the church at the address above.

bcook@phillynews.com

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