From left, Jayna LaViolette, recipient of the Evergreen Scholarship; Gail Anthony of the Community Foundation of Marquette County; and Sue Madden, recipient of the 2018 Evergreen Award and Zonta Club member, as LaViolette is presented with the scholarship at the Evergreen Awards ceremony at Northern Michigan University Monday. (Journal photo by Cecilia Brown)

MARQUETTE — Compassionate volunteer. Successful career woman. Inspirational leader. Kind mentor. Determined and committed organizer. Effective educator. Strong advocate. Loving mother.

These were just a few of the words used to describe Susan Madden of Marquette, the winner of this year’s Evergreen Award, which honors individuals who have dedicated their lives to supporting and mentoring women and girls by helping them reach their leadership potential.

“Her professional career and outside professional activities, including a role as a Zontian, has reached so many people but also has served to showcase what a remarkable woman she is,” said Lucille Contois, chairwoman of the Evergreen Award selection committee.

Madden, who has been an active member of the Zonta Club of Marquette since 1985, serving in every available office and position throughout her years in the club, was honored for decades of community and professional service that has supported and empowered girls and women.

“She has committed to these two areas, Zonta and career, as her way of advancing the status of women and impacting a broad spectrum of people through better health care,” Contois said.

When the award was presented to Madden at Monday afternoon’s ceremony at Northern Michigan University, it came as a surprise and a major honor, she said.

“It’s humbling, it’s very humbling,” she said, noting her gratitude to those who mentored her and to those she has been able to mentor.

Contois shared Madden’s personal, professional and service achievements with the audience at the ceremony, highlighting Madden’s dedication to serving girls and young women in the community through the STEM — science, technology, education and math — program, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Girl Scouts of America and the Tall Ships program.

“All of these programs or organizations are about encouraging and inspiring young women and girls to be confident and believe in their abilities to pursue STEM, lead and be a good friend and an example for others,” Contois said. “Our recipient has been volunteering in these organizations at different times for many years, through actual presentations, mentoring, assisting in the program and being an example of the woman she’s encouraging them to be.”

Madden, who serves as head of the hygiene team at Dental Associates in Marquette, has also made many contributions to the community in her professional life, Contois said.

“She has spent these professional years bringing dental health care to where it was lacking, or to those most vulnerable — the elderly, the disadvantaged, in some or many ways, and youth,” Contois said. “She initiated, developed and advanced many outreach programs and opportunities to reach these communities here and across the Upper Peninsula. Many of these were not mandated or compensated for, but she was acting on her beliefs that all members of the community should have access to health care and in her area of expertise, that meant dental care.”

Madden has contributed her dental expertise to the community by initiating dental orientation at Head Start, working with the Geriatric Education Center of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, providing lectures on oral health to nursing students at NMU, providing dental education to youth through the Marquette-Alger Regional Education Service Agency and serving two terms as president of the U.P. District Dental Hygiene Association, to name just a few of her professional outreach activities, Contois said.

Madden has also been involved with numerous fundraisers and health fairs, the U.P. Human Trafficking Regional Task Force, the Head Start Advisory Board, the Women’s Center of Marquette, North Star Academy, Teaching Family Homes of Upper Michigan, mentoring young women in high school and college through Zonta’s Z-Clubs, and many more activities in the community, Contois said.

Madden’s service to the community has been rewarding in many ways, some unexpected, she said.

“The interesting thing is, I joined to help people that needed help and in the end, there’s times in our life where we all need help,” Madden said, noting that in her experience, “you get what you give.”

Prior to Madden receiving the Evergreen Award, she helped to present the Evergreen Scholarship award to Jayna LaViolette, a non-traditional student and licensed massage therapist who returned to NMU this semester to continue her education, with plans to attend medical school after graduation.

“This scholarship was very important for me going back to school,” LaViolette said, thanking all who have contributed to the award and supported her education.

Organizers said they are grateful for the community’s ongoing support of the event, which is organized by Marquette County service clubs.

“It’s amazing how our community comes together to honor one of our own for something that is so important to us,” said Kori Tossava of the Evergreen Award Steering Committee.