After growing up on a Southeastern Minnesota dairy Farm, Lucy Barnes-Diesslin knew she wanted to be a teacher.
Her decision to attend Winona State University was partly due to the reviews she heard from family and friends but was confirmed when she experienced the atmosphere and found professors who took an interest and wanted her and her classmates to be successful.
Lucy graduated from Winona State University with both her Bachelor’s (’61) and Master’s (’69) degrees and went on to teach Math for 38 years across Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Lucy met her now husband, Blaine “Butch” Diesslin, in the summer of 1982, and the two settled in Ely, Minnesota, where she taught for 16 years in the Ely Junior-Senior High School and Butch taught at Vermillion Community College.
The couple have been longtime supporters of education and have shown their love for Math and Science not just through their careers, but through support of scholarships and enhancing the student experience.
Lucy said one of the things that pushed her was her desire to show parents and students that everyone can do Math, whether boys or girls. She shared her excitement to see some of the girls she taught go on to become math teachers or enter math-related fields.
“I credit the excellent teachers I had at Winona State for giving me the skills and knowledge to teach for 38 years. I had a great education at Winona, and it is important to me that future students have access to similar opportunities,” she said.
Lucy and Butch have continuously shown their dedication to students both at Winona State University and around the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Generations to come will see and feel the impact of Lucy and Butch Diesslin’s support.