Susana Imelda Aleman

Susana was born to Élida Wilson Alemán and Manuel Alemán on July 17, 1954 in Edinburg, Texas. She was the second of two children, both daughters. At age 8, the family moved to Falfurrias, her father’s hometown. She graduated from Falfurrias High School as the Valedictorian in 1972.

Starting in July 1972, Susana attended The University of Texas at Austin and received her Bachelor of Science in Government and Spanish in Secondary Education magna cum laude in January 1975. She attended graduate school while working for Austin ISD and earned a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from UT Austin. After 2½ years at AISD, she taught Civics for 4 years at her alma mater, Falfurrias High School. She left teaching at the high school level in 1981 and returned to college to earn two more degrees. She received a Master of Science in School Administration from Texas A&I University in 1983 and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from UT School of Law in 1984.

During her third year in law school, Susana worked in the Legal Department of the Texas Education Agency. She was in the right place at the right time as she was hired as the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at the UT School of Law starting in the fall of 1984. This was a position she held for 22 years. One of her well-known functions at the law school among many others was the gathering of sunflowers which were pinned on law graduates as Dean Alemán called their name and read the graduate’s resume.

Susana retired from UT in 2006. Her tenure at UT overlapped with her teaching Texas Government classes at Austin Community College. Throughout her career, she always stayed connected to education – perhaps due to her mother’s career as a school teacher.

Throughout her adult life, Susana was known for caring about other people, her positive attitude, and her willingness to help others. Susana interacted with many people – classmates, students, coworkers, and members of her church. She maintained lifelong relationships with many of these people. Since Susana never married or had any children of her own, she “took under her wing” all the law students to help them be successful.

While her immediate family was small, Susana’s extended family of aunts, uncles, cousins and all their children and grandchildren, was very large. Susana also had many circles of friends. Most of these were either associated with St. Albert the Great Catholic Church in Austin, the University of Texas at Austin, or through her hometown high school - her high school classmates or the students she taught.

In recognition of her commitment to the Lord and her endless participation with many organizations in her parish, in 2022 Susana was installed as a Dame in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

From the time Susana enrolled at The University of Texas and until her passing, she remained an ever-faithful Texas Longhorn fan. She was a season ticket holder for multiple UT sports. If you ever had the pleasure of visiting her home, you saw how much burnt orange she had in her home. Out in her front yard, you would notice the burnt orange trim on the house, a longhorn flag, and a 30-inch tall Bevo. There are very few, if any, who bled more burnt orange than Susana.

Another of Susana’s traits was her fondness for the character of Don Quixote. It was his chivalry and boldness that Susana found attracted to. Her home is full of small to large figurines and paintings of Don Quixote. And she seldom missed a live performance of Man of La Mancha anywhere in central Texas.

Susana cared so much about people, almost to a fault. She surrounded herself with people of all walks. She engaged with young and old, cleaning staff, scholars, professionals, athletes, professors, politicians, and judges including Supreme Court justices.

Susana was predeceased by her parents and many cousins and relatives. She is survived by the following family members: a sister Yolanda Wilson Alemán and her husband Christopher Nickel Guinn, a niece Lisa Mónica González-Lyons and her husband Tommey L. Lyons, and grandnieces Brianna Alicia White and Isabella Victoria Zu-Bolton.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectively requests donations to any of the following:

St. Albert the Great Catholic Church in Austin, Texas,

Alemán-Wilson Challenge Grant Scholarship - The University of Texas Ex-Students Association,

Dean Alemán Sunflower Lawhorn Scholarship - The University of Texas School of Law Foundation,

or any other charity of your choice.