FORT WAYNE, Ind.—Mark Suedhoff died after a lengthy battle with cancer in 2018, but he left his mark not only in the lives he touched but through the legacy of his estate.
As part of his estate planning, Suedhoff gifted $2.1 million toward an endowed scholarship at the University of Saint Francis, the largest single scholarship donation in university history.
The Mark M. Suedhoff Scholarship will support students at the University of Saint Francis who demonstrate academic merit and/or financial need. Scholarships will start being awarded in 2023.
“Mark’s generosity will make a great impact on USF students pursuing their education and those students will serve as world-changers once they embark on their careers,” USF President Rev. Dr. Eric Albert Zimmer said. “We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to the entire Suedhoff family. They have our assurance that Mark’s impact will continue here for generations.”
A Fort Wayne native and the youngest son of Carol and the late Carl Suedhoff, Jr., Mark Suedhoff discovered a love for reading and education early in his life.
“He was a happy kid,” Carol Suedhoff said. “He heard us lecture the older boys about homework and he would get up on Saturday mornings while he was still in grade school and work on his homework.”
Mark Suedhoff graduated from Homestead High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Indiana University, where he also pursued a master’s degree in environmental sciences. He possessed a love for mathematics and analytics and became a skilled investor as an adult.
“He was a gifted portfolio manager, but part of being gifted is that you do your homework,” Carol said.
Mark collected artwork and supported the local arts, serving on the board of Artlink. He supported many nonprofit organizations, including the United Way.
While Mark never married or had children, he cared for a “flock of dogs,” his mother said. Most of the dogs he adopted were rescue animals in need of a home. While Mark lived briefly in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Seattle, Washington, he spent most of his life in Fort Wayne.
After completing high school graduation requirements in 3½ years, Mark took a semester of nursing classes at USF. In his estate planning, he left financial gifts to many local nonprofits in addition to USF, Indiana University Fort Wayne and Ivy Tech.
“Our father valued education and we all do,” said Tom Suedhoff, Mark’s brother.
Founded in 1890 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition, the University of Saint Francis offers more than 60 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs through the College of Health Sciences and the College of Arts, Sciences and Business. In addition to its traditional programs, USF designs focused curricula for working adults in Fort Wayne, Crown Point and online. USF Downtown houses the music technology and graduate health sciences programs while offering enhanced internship and networking opportunities for students. The University of Saint Francis, recognized as an NAIA Five-Star Champion of Character institution, has 18 athletic programs boasting two individual and four team NAIA national championships. Approximately 2,200 students from a broad geographic region attend USF.