Mary Dean Pedigo
Mary Dean Pedigo was born on August 11, 1932, to Ivan Finley and Mary Cathern Hagan Pedigo. A native of Monroe County, Kentucky, Mary Dean grew up on her family’s farm. While a student at the White Oak Ridge one-room school and Fountain Run High School, her classmates lovingly called her “Deanie.” She then attended WKU. While on the Hill, she was named the Talisman Queen and achieved a teaching certificate in Home Economics. Mary Dean remained active after graduation, serving on the WKU Alumni Board and being named a Kentucky Colonel.
Mary Dean and John Albert Pedigo met while she was completing her first teaching assignment in Allen County, Kentucky. She and John were married on October 9, 1955, at First Baptist Church in Bowling Green, Kentucky. They soon moved to McMinnville, Tennessee, where they started their family.
Due to John’s varied roles in the textile industry, they moved to Hendersonville, Tennessee, in 1971, and raised their five children: Al, Jim, Bob, Nina, and Ivan. They relocated to Cookeville, Tennessee, in 1987. After John’s passing in 1993, Mary Dean migrated back to her family home in Fountain Run, Kentucky, where she spent the rest of her life.
Mary Dean was a devoted member of the Scottsville Church of Christ and truly lived what she called a “blessed life” and gave all the glory to God. She enjoyed additional friendships in the Hendersonville Lakeside Neighbors Club, Scottsville Garden Club, her dear M&M Group in Cookeville, Fountain Run Women’s Club, and numerous bridge clubs throughout the years. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, friend, and teacher. Mary Dean passed away on November 15, 2021.
To further give back to the university, Mary Dean established the Mary Dean Pedigo Scholarship Fund through her last will and testament. The fund assists deserving full-time WKU students who are graduates or residents of Allen or Monroe Counties in Kentucky. First preference is given to students majoring in family and consumer science. Through this fund, Mary Dean’s legacy lives on in perpetuity.