Anne Sullivan Bezdek
Anne Sullivan Bezdek was a lifelong learner, scholar, and teacher. She believed furthering one’s knowledge is the first step in solving just about any problem and that ensuring access to education for all is the most effective way to inspire change and make the world a better place.
As a professor at St. Louis and St. Charles Community Colleges, she reveled in sharing her passion for philosophy and ethics with students, offering them new ways of seeing the world and themselves. She worked tirelessly to ensure that all of her students, particularly ones from vulnerable populations, were supported, both in and out of the classroom.
Anne had multiple challenges and set backs herself as a student. It took her four tries over twenty years to attain her undergraduate degree. As a young adult, she came from a dysfunctional and abusive household and had little family or financial support; as part of the first generation in her family to attend college, she had no one to help her navigate the system and she failed out.
She eventually got her Associate’s Degree, and though she wanted to continue her education, she stopped there in order to support her husband Steve as he finished his studies. She eventually attended night classes, but school, along with working and raising young children, proved difficult. After her third child was born, she found herself in a deep depression and was convinced her way out of it was finishing her Bachelor’s degree. Steve supported this decision and took on more at home so Anne could complete her education. Anne thrived at school. She finished her courses, graduating Magna Cum Laude from Webster University.
Her learning at Webster also went beyond academics: classmates educated her about healthy lifestyles, such as organic eating; she started to attend therapy and address her mental health; and she became active in community organizing and service work.
Anne went on to get her Master’s Degree in Philosophy and Women’s Studies and began teaching. Around this time, Steve decided to take a leap of his own – going into business for himself. With Anne’s unwavering support, Steve grew the business into a $25 million company, Crossroads Courier, which their oldest son successfully runs today.
In retirement, Anne welcomed six grandchildren and continued teaching small groups about critical thinking and logic at her local library. She also stayed politically aware, campaigning for causes and candidates, and donating to multiple charities and organizations. She and Steve traveled to many places, including fulfilling her lifelong dream of going to Africa. She died just days shy of their fiftieth anniversary.
Education gave Anne the opportunities and knowledge she needed to reach beyond her beginnings. She was able to break generational cycles, create a healthy, happy family, have a fulfilling life and career, and help better the lives of many others.
In her last years, she spoke of her desire to keep helping students long after she was gone, to make education accessible and attainable to young people and non-traditional students in need, as she once was. This scholarship was created to help accomplish that goal, as well as honor Anne’s life and achievements.