Honoring a Lifetime of Friendship and Service

Growing up, Margaret “Margee” Cannon knew Connie Anderson as a friend of her mother’s. Later in life, Margee would become Connie’s strong supporter and one of her closest friends. Through this friendship, a lasting legacy was born at the University of Denver that will benefit generations of students to come.

Constance “Connie” Anderson was born in Wichita, Kansas, in 1928. During World War II, Connie volunteered with the American Women’s Junior Volunteer Service as an “enemy aircraft watcher” and at the local hospital, laying the foundation for what would become a lifetime of service to others. She attended Wichita State University until her sophomore year, when she spent a summer at Camp Ballington on Lookout Mountain and fell in love with Colorado. She transferred to the University of Denver and worked for the Continental Oil Company (Conoco), earning 70 cents an hour to help cover her tuition for her bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

While at DU, Connie became one of the first women to join Phi Delta Kappa Fraternity and served as both vice president and president. Upon graduation, she was hired by the Aurora Public Schools where she would teach for 32 years.

Over the course of her career, Connie not only influenced the lives of more than 3,000 students, but she also was a passionate advocate for political and societal change. A devout feminist, she served on the State Board of Education, founded a local chapter for the National Organization of Women, and participated in several other boards, political action committees and lobbying efforts.

One of Connie’s gifts was storytelling. Margee fondly recalls Connie’s stories from her annual trek across Europe during her summer breaks. She would order a VW camper in Germany, pick it up shortly after the school year ended and spend the summer camping across Europe. Connie regaled her students with tales of the world, using storytelling and personal experience to inspire and encourage her students.

Upon her passing, Connie left Margee a financial legacy that allowed her to retire comfortably after a 33-year career as a neighborhood liaison for the city of Aurora. As Margee began to think about her own legacy, she realized it was closely tied to Connie’s and wanted to honor Connie for everything she had meant to Margee and so many others. As a result, Margee established the Constance L. Anderson and Margaret A. Cannon Endowed Scholarship at the Morgridge College of Education with a testamentary bequest in December 2020.

Margee, who still lives in Aurora with her husband, Brad Pierce, hopes that future scholarship recipients will continue this legacy by creating and telling their own stories for generations to come.

You can create a legacy of support for future students. Contact Jon Kraus, Executive Director, Gift Planning, at 303.871.4619 or jon.kraus@du.edu to learn more.