Mrs. Susan Beasley of Ottawa, Ontario, was the first National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother to be chosen by The Royal Canadian Legion in 1950. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1950, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.
On June 12, 1944, her son, Aircraftman 1st Class William Harold Beasley, was killed while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
On December 24, 1944, her second son, Flying Officer Joseph Ronald Beasley, was killed also while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Her husband, John Beasley, was a soldier during the First World War and heroically survived despite the loss of one of his legs.