BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Telegraph-Times-Monitor General Manager
STARKE— The Bradford County Education Foundation honored Margaret DeSue, John Miller and Anne Miller during a fundraising dinner and awards ceremony on Thursday, Aug. 25.
DeSue served as a custodian at Bradford Middle School for 17 years, where she was affectionately known as “Grandma.” Anne Miller taught business at Bradford High School and the middle school. John Miller, publisher of the Telegraph-Times-Monitor, had a role in launching the education foundation in 1990.
Foundation President Cheryl Canova emceed the event, which included videoed interviews of the honorees and a question-and-answer session led by County Judge D. Tatum Davis.
Dinner catered by the Downtown Grill was followed by a fundraiser called the Dessert Dash in which each table collected donations for priority in selecting a cake for dessert. The after-dinner fundraiser netted over $11,000 for the foundation.
‘I Can’t call her Ms. DeSue’
In her interview, DeSue said she worked as a cook at Starke’s Garden Restaurant for over 20 years before the eatery burned down.
From there, she joined the school district and remained at the middle school for nearly two decades.
After retiring from the school district, she launched a third career at Denmark Furniture, working part-time, cooking and cleaning, combining her earlier occupations.
DeSue recalled that one day at the middle school, her grandson Eric, a student at the school, spotted her and said, “Grandma. Grandma.”
“I turned around, and his teacher said: ‘Eric, that’s not Grandma. That’s Ms. DeSue,” the honoree recalled. “And Eric said: ‘That’s my grandma. I cannot call her Ms. DeSue.’ And that’s how I got the name ‘Grandma’ at the middle school.”
DeSue added that working with the students at the middle school kept her young.
The 90-year-old said that now that she is retired for good, she plans to spend time at Concerned Citizen’s youth program at RJE and with the young people at her church.
“I have to take care of the little children at my church and cook for them,” DeSue said. I just have to keep moving.”
‘My friends all thought I was nuts.’
Anne Miller said she lived in Starke growing up but traveled to the Southwestern U.S. after marrying John Miller and joining him on his assignments.
After a tour in Southeast Asia, John returned to Anne and their two children, born one year apart.
John started work at the Bradford County Telegraph, and Anne earned a business education degree from the University of Florida.
She taught high school students for over a decade before transferring to Bradford Middle School.
“My friends all thought I was nuts because the discipline was quite different,” she said. “But I loved all my students.”
Miller said she taught the sixth through eighth graders business skills like typing by touch and how to fill out applications, draft resumes, and prepare for interviews.
Miller added that she found the younger students more receptive than the high school students, particularly seniors whom she said were more focused on their post-graduate plans than the classroom material.
The business educator also talked about her life after teaching, saying she learned to play the guitar and eventually formed a band called the Joyful Noisemakers.
She added that she still practices yoga and serves as the secretary of her church’s women’s group.
A vision for a nursing school in Starke
During his interview, John Miller recalled that his family moved to Bradford County from Tennessee, saying, “We were more redneck in Tennessee than the folks in Bradford County.”
He graduated from Bradford High in 1961 and played on the school’s undefeated football team. The squad won the Keystone Conference championship before the state high school championship tournament was organized.
Miller said the Bradford County Education Foundation was the brainchild of Starke businessman and philanthropist Guy Andrews.
“He was very adamant about the fact that we needed to assist Bradford County’s school system in raising funds and helping them and guide them and direct them,” Miller said.
The Telegraph publisher added that with scholarships provided by the foundation and its partnership with Santa Fe College, any student with ambition should be able to get a two-year degree at a minimal cost.
Miller also promoted his dream of establishing a Santa Fe College nursing school in Starke, telling the crowd that the underutilized space at HCA Florida’s Starke Emergency Department would be a perfect fit for the school. He also said that nearby Clay County hospitals could provide students with clinical opportunities.
Miller also promoted his newspapers, particularly its coverage of high school sports. He also said Bradford County has many success stories and stressed the importance of area economic growth.
“We need the people in Bradford County, Union County, and Keystone Heights to be able to stay home, earn good wages, and be a part of our communities,” he said.
Celebrating 33 years
Foundation President Cheryl Canova gave an overview of the organization’s activities.
She said independent nonprofits like the Bradford foundation support 60 Florida school districts. Canova added that the Bradford County Education Foundation is one of only six in the state that is all-volunteer.
She highlighted the foundation’s projects, including obtaining grants for middle and elementary school math and STEM programs, field trips, scholarships, grant writing, teacher training, spelling bee support, alumni activities, book fairs, and fundraising.
