Obituary of Susan Anne Whalen

A great teacher died on November 1,2024. Susan Anne Whalen,aged 63 , passed away in her sleep at Regions Hospital in Saint Paul, MN. She spent the whole of her adult life as a serious scholar of the art of rhetoric. She studied persuasion, she was extraordinarily skilled as a speaker and taught hundreds of students to overcome their fear of public speaking. and let their voices fill our lives.

Susan was born on January 26,1961 in Brooklyn, NY to Roy Whalen and Barbara Jean Wedin. Roy's promotions meant that Susan had tio adjust to new schools and new classmates on a fairly regular basis. At each, she won new friends and learned to excel at some new thing. As a pre-teen, she was a competitive swimmer. As a teenager, she was both an All-State master of the flute and a champion debater. When she graduated from Spring High School in 1978,, she won admission to The University of Texas at Austin's highly prestigious Plan II honors program. At Texas, she excelled in the classroom and at debate tournaments across the nation. Her undergraduate success at Texas did not go unnoticed as she was offered admission into one of the top graduate schools in the country.

She did very well at Penn State adding degrees to her credentials. To the B.A, from Texas ('83), she tacked on an M.A ('86). and a Ph.D ('90). to her name. Forever more, she would be known as "Doctor Whalen" unless she asked you to address her otherwise.

Her professional career began at the University of Colorado-Boulder as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication in September of 1989.

 She was a great teacher and proved it by excelling at every turn in her career and at every level. She taught graduate students at one of the top universities in the country, taught undergraduates at at both Colorado and Penn State,taught high school students in the suburbs of Boulder, CO (Niwot High School) and at a charter school in Saint Paul, MN. While much of her life was spent at the front of the classroom she also spent spent 1995-1999 as the Associate Director of the Human Rights Initiative at the University of Colorado why she helped run what was then the largest academic repository of international nongovernmental human rights materials in the country. During this time, she also served as a Project Director for Amnesty International USA.

That small charter school in Saint Paul is named Nova Classical Academy. Susan was teaching there when the doors opened to the high school and worked there until her first bout of cancer. While she was there, she built a mock trial program that went from not qualifying to state to regularly winning state championships and top ten finishes at national and international tournaments. She built something that is strong long after she moved on to bigger and better things.

In late May of 2015, Susan's life changed. In the space of a week, she went from celebrating a fourth place finish at the mock trial national tournament in North Carolina to the ER at Regions Hospital in Saint Paul. The sophisticated and compassionate care provided by the Cancer Care Clinics beat back the cancer, She beat back cancer and changed careers. She walked away from classroom teaching and became a private admissions counselor. Helping one student at time. No more lectures, no more seminars.

She spent the rest of her life working at College Insider Track and loved the job. She loved her students and cherished her colleagues. In May of this year, Susan learned that she would need to fight another battle against cancer.

She is survived by her lovingbe s husband of eighteen years, Richard Lesicko, of Saint Paul. She is also survived by, her mother and step-father, Barbara Jean and Joe Fritz of Vail, AZ. Susan is also survived by her sister, Karen Beagles and her husband, John Beagles of St. Croix, USVI and their children Rudi and Jared.

She was preceded in death by her father, Roy Marvin Whalen.

Her final arrangements are being handled by the kind folks at the Cremation Society of Minnesota. Her ashes will be scattered on St. Croix, an island that was her favorite vacation spot. Early next summer, there will be a celebration of her life in Saint Paul,MN.

Her legacy is spread across the nation with the hundreds of students who are mourning her passing. Susan has requested that people not send flowers. Susan has also asked that people consider making donations to the Minnesota State Bar Association's mock trial program and the Plan II scholarship fund at the University of Texas at Austin.