Susanne Boothe Wilson was born in Gonzales, Texas, on September 30, 1928, to schoolteacher Maureen Ingraham Boothe and hatchery owner William H. Boothe. On December 21, 1947, she married Robert M. Wilson, and together they had three sons: William, Robert, and David.

In 1960, Robert’s work relocated the family to San Jose, where Wilson became active in the community. She served as PTA president and volunteered at the Cambrian Park YWCA, teaching sewing classes alongside her best friend Ruthadele Sarter. Wilson's leadership skills led her to become president of the local YWCA from 1967 to 1970. In 1970, she was sent as a voting delegate to the 25th Annual National YWCA Convention where she voted to pass the YWCA’s “One Imperative”: the elimination of racism by any means necessary. In the 1980s, Wilson chaired the YWCA’s Villa Nueva Capital Campaign, helping to raise $3 million to build a 63-unit low-income housing structure in downtown San Jose. The building was finished in 1993 and named the Susanne B. Wilson Residence in her honor.

Wilson’s time with the YWCA of Silicon Valley instilled in her the importance of women’s empowerment, which remained a guiding force for the rest of her life. Over the course of her political career she was a part of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Women’s Task Force and a founding member of both the California Elected Women for Education and Research (CEWEAR) and the National Women’s Political Caucus.

In 1972, Wilson ran for San Jose City Council and won, serving as a council member from 1973 to 1978. From 1976 to 1978, she held the position of Vice-Mayor under San Jose’s first female mayor, Janet Gray Hayes. During this period, she also attended San José State University, earning a degree in Political Science in 1976. From 1979 to 1990, Wilson served on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, representing District 1. She was Chairperson in 1982, 1986, and 1990, gaining recognition as a supporter of labor unions and a champion of women’s rights.

In 1979, Wilson co-founded the Walk for Women of Sparta with SJSU President Gail Fullerton. Over a decade, this annual fundraising event raised over a million dollars for scholarships for SJSU’s women athletes. In 1994, she became SJSU’s first visiting professor in the "Leader in Residence" program, and in 1996, she received SJSU’s Tower Award. She continued her fundraising efforts and served as President of the Spartan Foundation from 2004 to 2006. Wilson passed away in 2018.