For a profile like this, you really kind of have to ask. Then you quickly realize it has pretty much nothing to do with their story.

Susan Perko and Joyce Siu keep their art supplies handy to put to use whenever the mood to create strikes them. (Carl Fauver/City Journals)

But let’s get it out of the way and move on: Joyce Siu turned 90 last November – born at the height of the Great Depression. 

Susan Perko will turn 85 in July – born 5 months ahead of Pearl Harbor Day. 

And that’s the only reference to their age you’ll read here, because this is about what these Summit Vista neighbors do to keep busy – and to beautify their world. Spoiler alert: it’s a lot more than most of us have ever done, or will do – at any age.

Siu is the born and raised Salt Lake Valley local. Perko is the Big Apple transplant. Honestly, the two barely knew one another until last fall, when Siu – who no longer drives – needed a ride to the Taylorsville Art Show to enter some of her work. 

Acquaintance Perko does still drive – and thought it might be fun to enter some of her work into the show, as well.

Artist Susan Perko lived nearly all of her 84 years in New York before moving to Utah less than a year ago. (Carl Fauver/City Journals)

“I had only spoken with Susan a few times before we entered the art show together,” Siu said. “It was fun; we might do it again next time.”

For the record, the two each earned blue ribbons: Siu for a colorful painting of a parrot; and Perko for an equally colorful piece filled with symbolism.

Perko’s painting features a large gold star, a folded United States flag and a shadowy silhouette of the father she never met.

“I am an American World War II Orphan,” Perko explains. “My father had been a successful New York banker – but was called up from the Army Reserves to active duty in June 1941." 

"I was born just a month later. He was killed in Tunisia, North Africa, in January 1943, before I ever met him.”

Perko is in contact with others in her unusual circumstance, through an organization called the American WWII Orphans Network (awon.org).

While Perko has only lived at Summit Vista (summitvista.com) since moving cross country from New York last spring, Siu was one of the planned retirement community’s earliest residents.

Susan Perko paints and hangs transparent food leftover containers from her favorite Summit Vista restaurant to create this unique windbreak for her patio. (Carl Fauver/City Journals)

“I moved into Summit Vista in 2017 as one of the first residents in the second building here,” she explained. “The best way I can describe this place is, it’s like being on a cruise ship. They have a great variety of food, which you can eat in the restaurant or have delivered to your room. There’s also medical care and a beauty salon. I love it here.”

Siu and Perko each live alone in their apartments and each enjoy kid and grandkid visits. Siu enjoys playing bridge every Monday, while Perko attends a twice-weekly exercise class that she describes as a “cross between ballet and boxing.”

Siu painted her dog in 2024 and says that may be her last painting.

“I still enjoy creating art – but my hand is starting to get pretty shaky for painting,” she said. “I stay busy now doing lots of needlepoint and crocheting.”

The walls of Siu’s home are adorned with many samples of her handiwork in multiple mediums.

Susan Perko enjoys sculpting almost as much as painting. (Carl Fauver/City Journals)

Perko is also a big fan of her new Summit Vista residence.

“I moved here from New York (last) year because my son and grandson live here,” Perko said. “I also have a daughter in California. One of the things I like most about Summit Vista is how intelligent and articulate the residents are. I have very interesting conversations with people all the time. I think the average education here is between a master’s degree and a PhD. I wanted to meet and talk to interesting people when I moved in, and that’s exactly what I’ve been able to do.”

Like Siu, Perko doesn’t apply her paint to canvas all that much anymore. Instead, she’s taken to painting unusual items – starting with the clear containers provided from Summit Vista restaurants for leftovers. Perko recycles them by adding a little paint and hanging them from her patio awning as a windbreak.

“I really believe in recycling and this is a great way to reuse the containers,” she explained. “I never painted anything like this until I moved here. They’re quick and fun to do. I know it’s one of the more unusual windbreaks I’ve ever seen.”

The other unusual thing Perko began painting several years ago are glass water bottles. As an environmental activist, Perko won’t give you one of her water bottles unless you also take, and promise to read, her one-page explanation of them. It reads, in part:

From drawing to painting to needlepoint, Joyce Siu has been an active artist for at least 75 of her 90 years. (Carl Fauver/City Journals)

“I have recycled these bottles, sterilized and painted them, to encourage people to drink tap water, to avoid using plastic bottles and to consider environmental impacts in daily life. Together we can make a difference, one bottle at a time.” 

Siu has three sons – two living nearby (Midvale and Sandy), with the third in California. She also enjoys visits from her four grandkids (“a fifth is on the way”). Neither Perko nor Siu have any great grandkids yet.

Their most frequent encounters together come when Siu takes her dog down to Perko’s first floor for an outside walk.

“I think that’s how I first met Joyce,” Perko concluded. “I saw her walking her dog from my patio and just introduced myself.”

Whether the Summit Vista duo returns to show more things at this year’s Taylorsville Art Show remains to be seen. For now, it will be more senior citizen stereotype crushing, one painting, crocheting and needlepointing project at a time.