Dr. Bill Bazzelle met his future wife Minnie McKillion at a young age while attending church in Hope, Arkansas. 
The two grew up together and began dating during high school. Bill and Minnie both attended college in Texas but at schools over 200 miles apart. The couple only saw each other on holiday breaks.
Minnie graduated in 1965 with a teaching degree and returned to Hope to begin her career. She and Bill stayed in touch while he finished graduate school in Detroit and found work at DuPont in Wilmington, Delaware. Minnie was dedicated to her teaching career in her hometown and hesitant about moving to Delaware. In 1968, after the pair married she relocated and found work as a substitute teacher for local schools in Delaware before finding a permanent teaching position.
Minnie and Bill welcomed their first child, a son named William Jr., followed by a daughter, Roslyn. New mothers rarely received maternity leave at the time, so Minnie put her career on hold to raise their children. When their children got older, Minnie went back to school for her master’s degree.
Upon earning the degree, Minnie resumed teaching wherever her family lived. When they returned to Delaware from Texas in 1984, she continued teaching and worked her way up the administrative ladder to become an Assistant Principal at A.I. du Pont Middle School and then the Principal at Evan G. Shortlidge Academy. It was at Shortlidge that Minnie led an education team and student body to achieve the highest test scores in Wilmington.
In this excerpt from Dr. William E. Bazzelle Sr.: A Life of Science & Service, Dr. Bazzelle discusses his marriage and his wife’s career:
Introduction | Heritage | Growing Up | College | Graduate School | DuPont Years | Family | STEM Mentorship | Philanthropy