‘I wanted to be a nurse…’

Alice Stecker’s lifelong passion for nursing began at a time when most nursing education consisted of 3-year diploma programs within hospitals. Instead, Alice (Nurs ’59, Grad ‘64) joined Marquette’s baccalaureate program.

“Something whispered, ‘you should get a degree,’ ” she recalls. Marquette nursing’s philosophy that every being is created in God’s image spoke deeply to her.

After her undergraduate studies and clinical work at Milwaukee’s St. Joseph’s Hospital, Alice earned her master’s at Marquette — a rarity in those days, and one that helped launch her career in nursing administration and teaching. In the late ‘90s, Alice felt called to do something about the constant shortage of caregivers: she put her savings toward an endowed scholarship at Marquette with the hope of preparing additional nurses. Last year she increased the impact, raising her scholarship to $1 million through a planned gift commitment.

“When I think about what this might mean for future nurses and future patients, it fills my heart,” Alice says.