A former employee of the McDonnell-Douglas Corporation in St. Louis has left an estate gift of $108,000 to the mathematics department to establish an endowed scholarship fund for students who "demonstrate achievement and promise."
Phyllis Ann Heyssel, AB '53, of St.Louis County left her entire estate to charitable organizations. Heyssel, 66, had never married and was an only child. She died Oct. 4, 1997.
"She wanted to do something with her estate that meant a lot to her," says John Kay, JD '57, her attorney and a distant relative. "She talked about MU all the time and was very proud to have gone to school there."
Heyssel retired in the early 1990s as a software engineer in the McDonnell-Douglas aerospace program. "She was very much a pioneer in the mid-1950s as a woman who launched a career." Kay says. "Today we don't think it's unusual for women to pursue careers, but it was unusual then."
Born in Jefferson City and reared in California, Mo., Heyssel excelled in mathematics and was valedictorian of her high school graduating class in 1949.
She was surrounded by family members who were teachers and was inspired particularly by an aunt who taught math in the California school system. Heyssel recognized that bond with her aunt by creating a scholarship fund in her aunt's name at the California High School.
Heyssel left $100,000 to establish a new public library in California in a building that formerly held a general store, Heyssel and Houser. Other gifts include $25,000 to St. Louis Opera Theatre, $25,000 to the St. Louis Symphony and $25,000 to the California Historical Society in memory of her parents.
Recipients of the MU Heyssel Scholarship will be selected annually by members of the mathematics faculty.