Dr. Murrell Jean Higgins Duster
Memorial Set For March 29th
A memorial service will be held for Dr. Murrell Jean Higgins Duster, who died Sunday, February 9, 2025, at the age of 91, at 11 a.m., Saturday, March 29th, at the University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, 5850 S. Woodlawn Ave., Chicago, Illinois.
Mrs. Duster died of cancer, according to her daughter, Alice Pennamon. Her mother moved with her to Dacula, Georgia, in 2022 after her 2020 diagnosis.
“She has a strong legacy,” Pennamon said of her mother. “She had a lot of positive impact through her ways of helping people. She knew how to handle challenges with grace, and she had integrity.”
Daniel Duster, Dr. Duster’s nephew, remembers his aunt as a beautiful, “elegant” woman who dedicated her life to education and uplifting others.
Born in Chicago to William and Ora Higgins, Dr. Duster was the Associate Vice President and founding Dean of the Angelina Pedroso Center for Northeastern Illinois University’s Diversity & Intercultural Affairs.
For more than 35 years, Dr. Duster served in several key faculty, administrative, and leadership roles at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU).
She retired in 2012 and was awarded the William “Doc” Speller Lifetime Achievement Award. She continued her legacy at NEIU by endowing a scholarship in her name, the Murrell J. Higgins Duster Scholarship, which assists students with the costs of attending Northeastern, including tuition, books and fees.
Mrs. Duster married Attorney Benjamin C. Duster, III, who passed away on February 11, 2011, at 83. He was dedicated to ending segregation in the Chicago Public Schools and keeping the legacy of his iconic grandmother, Ida B. Wells, and her well-known crusade for equality alive.
Mrs. Duster’s mother, Mrs. Higgins, was the first African American personnel director for Spiegel’s store, where she worked for 40 years integrating every department, paying all employees the same salary, and desegregating the bathroom facilities.
Mrs. Higgins also taught at Dunbar Vocational High School for 33 years and, after retiring, was hired by LOOP CEOs to integrate their companies. She died on July 12, 2012, at the age of 101.
While her mother graduated from Northwestern University, Mrs. Duster, a lifelong leader in education reform, graduated from Roosevelt University with a major in early childhood education.
She continued her mother’s Ora Higgins Youth Foundation, which awards college scholarships to students. It is now in its 49th year.
Mrs. Duster was preceded in death by her husband, Benjamin C. Duster, III, and two of her children, Karen Duster and Kevin Duster. Her legacy lives on through her children a son, Benjamin C. Duster, IV; two daughters, Alice Pennamon and Muriel DeVore; a brother, Rev. William “Chico” Higgins; her 11 grandchildren, Ashley Terrell, Rodney Pennamon, II, Sarah Duster, Miranda Duster, Joshua Duster, Jacquelyn DeVore, Matthew A. DeVore II, Victoria DeVore, J DeVore, David DeVore, and Michael DeVore; five great-grandchildren Brian Terrell II, Jackson Terrell, Amaya Terrell, Zuri Terrell, and Kali Bell.
Her memory will continue to inspire those fortunate enough to know her, reminding us of the importance of family, faith, and unwavering love.