Funeral held for former Lake County woman killed in Iraq

Intellectual.

Soldier.

Humanist.

Patriot.

Mentor.

These were just a few of the words used to describe Nicole Suveges as family and friends gathered Wednesday to honor her memory in Wauconda.

Suveges, 38, was killed last week when a bomb exploded in a building in Baghdad. A graduate student at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the former Lake County resident was in the Middle East as a civilian contractor researching her doctoral dissertation in international relations.

Three other Americans also were killed in the blast.

Suveges' father-in-law, Clark Iverson, delivered her eulogy at Transfiguration Church. He spoke of Suveges' intellectual spirit, her independence and her desire to learn.

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Those characteristics brought Suveges - already a combat veteran who'd served in the U.S. Army Reserve - to Iraq, he said.

"She told me this was the chance of a lifetime," Iverson said. "Later she said, 'I love this job.'"

Following the funeral Mass at the church, a second ceremony with military honors was held at Wauconda Cemetery. A bugler played Taps, and Suveges' husband, retired Army Master Sgt. David Iverson, was presented with a folded flag in honor of her service.

He wore his dress uniform to the services.

As has been tradition in recent years, dozens of motorcyclists with the Patriot Guard escorted the funeral procession to the church and the cemetery.

Suveges - most recently of Edgewood, Md. - was a Mundelein High School graduate who'd also attended Stevenson High School. She received degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago and the George Washington University.

She served in the Army Reserve from 1998 to 2006. Her service included a stint with a psychological operations team in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In Iraq, she worked with a private company that helps the Army's 3rd Brigade Combat Team understand the Iraqi people and their ways.

The job was a spiritual calling for Suveges, Clark Iverson said.

"She wanted to apply intelligence to promote stability and peace," he said during the eulogy. "Nicole was where she wanted to be, doing what she strongly believed in."

One of Suveges' aunts, Mary Lou Suveges, also addressed the mourners during Mass. Quoting the late Fred Rogers, she spoke of how her niece sought to take responsibility in the world.

"(She was) a true hero," Mary Lou Suveges said.

In addition to her husband, Suveges' survivors include two stepdaughters and her parents. Her sister, Michelle Mertins, is an advertising supervisor with the Daily Herald.