A few dollars buy a dream

Tracey Rockhill

Dorothy Keenan only wanted more education.

Keenan graduated at the top of her Oregon (Wis.) High School class, earning a tuition scholarship to attend UW–Madison. Although she preferred the sciences, she decided she wanted to be a teacher.

“It was sort of what girls did then,” she says.

When she enrolled in her freshman home economics courses, which included chemistry, she didn’t have the required $25 chemistry lab fee. She knew her parents didn’t have the money for lab fees, so she made a snap decision to change her major to English, a major that had no laboratories.

A few weeks later, an uncle asked her why she had changed her major. She explained why, and he immediately gave her $25 to cover the lab fee. The next year the state paid for her tuition and fees, and Keenan was able to return to her original plan and major in home economics.

Her gratitude has led her to make a gift to the School of Human Ecology. She was motivated by the fact that she loved every minute of her career; she taught in Wisconsin for 11 years. During this time she also completed her master’s degree. The Wisconsin state director of home economics education recommended Keenan for a new Ph.D. program at the University of Illinois.

After completing her doctorate, Keenan was hired by Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, a small campus that suited her rural roots. She taught vocational and continuing adult education courses there for nearly 30 years.

For the last 23 years, Keenan has not missed making a gift to benefit the School of Human Ecology. Her gifts are not large but mean a lot to her and to the school. “The School of Human Ecology appreciates loyalty as well as generosity,” says Bobette Heller, director of development at the UW Foundation. “Loyal contributions to the school over time can really add up.”

When asked what inspired her to support the school, Keenan replied, “I have always lived frugally and at some point it dawned on me that I had more money than I needed.” In addition to UW–Madison, she also makes gifts to the University of Illinois and Southern Illinois University and several other charitable organizations.

Keenan has lived in Madison for more than 10 years, having moved back to the area from Carbondale to be closer to her family. She is the oldest of six children and has a sister who also lives in Madison and two brothers who live nearby in Oregon. Another sister lives in Minnesota. She has several nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.