Dr. Richard & Sharon Lessard

Dr. Richard and Sharon Lessard established the Arlie Mae (Bedell) Lessard Memorial Scholarship in honor of Dr. Lessard’s mother. He shared that education was always important to his mother and her family. She came from a family of eleven children; all who graduated from high school which was not common in the early 1900s, and all of them also went on to schools of higher learning of some kind. He shared that his mother went to County Normal and taught in a one-room school for a time, later becoming the Bellaire librarian for several years.

As a member of NMC’s alumni, Dr. Lessard shared, “Thinking back on all my educational experiences, I feel that some of my best education came from Northwestern Michigan College. I struggled to finance my education, even though it was far less expensive than it is today. If this scholarship can help students who need financial help, that would mean a great deal to me.”