Suzanne Lombardi

Sep 10, 1957 -

Dec 4, 2023

Suzanne Lombardi, 66, a retired attorney and former Alaska District Court Judge, passed away peacefully on Dec. 4, 2023, in Boise, Idaho. Suzanne's passing followed 4 1/2 years after she was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Her Celebration of Life will be announced at a later date.

Suzanne was born on Sept. 10, 1957, in San Jose, Calif., the oldest of seven children. Her family moved to Boise, Idaho; she graduated from Bishop Kelly High School in 1975. Immediately following high school, she enrolled in the Boise State Basque Studies program culminating in a year of study in Onati, located in the Basque Country of Spain. Shortly after her arrival, the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco died, an event greeted with open celebration by large numbers of Basque people; the stories of injustice shared by the people of the region made a deep and lasting impression upon Suzanne. She returned to the USA in 1976, and went on to obtain a Bachelor of Arts in psychology (1979) from the University of Idaho.

After graduation, Suzanne moved to Sutton, Alaska. Among other jobs, she served in 1985 as a legislative aide to Alaska State Senator Jay Kerttula of Palmer, Alaska, and she worked in the early 1980s as safe-home and program director at the Valley Women's Resource Center in Palmer. With her exposure to the challenges faced by abused women and children, she became determined to make a difference. In 1986, she returned to the University of Idaho in Moscow, and obtained her law degree in 1989. She moved back to Anchorage, Alaska, in 1989, where she clerked with Judge James Singleton on the Alaska Court of Appeals. In 1991, she obtained her license to practice law in Alaska, and then served as an Assistant District Attorney for the State of Alaska.

In 1997, Suzanne was nominated by Governor Tony Knowles to a position as District Court Judge in the Palmer District Court; she was confirmed by the Alaska State Legislature and served in that capacity from 1997 to 2003. She would go on to set up her own practice, Lombardi Law, specializing in family law, and retired in 2018. Suzanne relocated back to Boise in 2019.

Suzanne married her second husband, Greg Kinney of Anchorage, in June 1992. Their son, Robert James Kinney, was born in Palmer in December 1998. Along the way, she enjoyed traveling to Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, Europe and the lower 48 states, as well as inside Alaska; she would often couple travel with skiing, rafting and other activities with family and friends.

Suzanne was preceded in death by her father and mother, Larry and Cynthia Heffner; and brother, Bill Heffner. She is survived by her son, Robert Kinney; siblings and spouses, Jane Heffner (Brenda) of Massachusetts, Margaret "Peggy" Heffner of Brooksville, Fla., John Heffner (Kristine) of Paradise Valley, Ariz., Robert "Boo" Heffner (Stephanie) of Mill Creek, Wash., and Mary Wentz (Mike) of Arlington, Va.; and numerous nieces, nephews and friends, among them, her former husband Greg Kinney and his wife Colleen Durnford.

Arrangements are being coordinated through Alden-Waggoner Funeral Chapel in Boise.