Deanna Trumble and John Wadda are Central Wyoming College’s 2021-22 Honorary Degree recipients. The CWC Honorary Degree, the Associate of Humane Letters (AHL), is presented to build stronger community relationships throughout the CWC service area, to recognize the value of the community to CWC, and to inspire students.
John Wadda demonstrates strong commitment to the well-being and continued growth of individuals and communities in the CWC service area, especially on the Wind River Reservation. He serves as the program director of the Eastern Shoshone 477 Program, which allows the Tribe to integrate employment, training and related service programs administered by various federal agencies. As such, Wadda oversees the implementation of job-training programs for youth, work skills training for unemployed and underemployed individuals and higher education for individuals working toward earning college degrees.
Wadda exemplifies learning through the encouragement and support he provides community members. He also serves on the Tribal Preservation Office Advisory Board, and is one of the few surviving fluent speakers of the Shoshone language. He is a U.S. Army veteran, having served in the Vietnam War. He shares stories about his experiences growing up, attending college, and the importance of carrying on traditional practices. Wadda served in several capacities related to education or impacting training and education for many years including serving on several CWC Advisory Committees focusing on American Indian education needs and services, directing the Eastern Shoshone Higher Education Program and serving as a member of the Eastern Shoshone Business Council. He encourages community members to explore their options and to be involved in their own decision making and future.
Deanna Trumble has served the local Fremont County communities for decades, volunteering in various capacities. Since 1990 she has worked with others to manage the Christmas Basket Program in Lander, which delivers 250-300 baskets of food and gifts to families in need every Christmas. She is the executive director of the First Stop Help Center in Lander, helping clients with everything from rent and utilities to referrals to other agencies.
Trumble manages the intensive paperwork involved in qualifying for and distributing grant money, and works every year to engage the community in donating to First Stop through the Lander Community Foundation.
In 2017, Trumble was one of the founders of the organization Almost Home Wyoming, which is dedicated to preventing homelessness. She is a regional director for Wyoming Hunger Initiative which has a mission to end hunger in Wyoming, has volunteered extensively in the fight against food insecurity in numerous local organizations as well as national and international ones, to include the Relief Bus in New York City and orphanages and schools in Haiti, El Salvador, and Africa. Trumble serves on the ‘Dancing With The Stars Committee to help raise funding and awareness for Community Entry Services.
Trumble is a founding board member of Lander Free Medical Clinic. Additionally, she has served as a foster parent, exchange student host, Girl Scout leader, and is a long-time swimming teacher to kids and instructor of water aerobics for adults making exercise fun for a group of folks, as well as swim officiant for the Wyoming High School Association. She is the recipient of Fremont County State Farm’s #everydayheroes award in 2019 for working to make Fremont County a better place, one request at a time.
As one community member has said of her, “Deanna inspires each person she encounters to believe in their own abilities and future. She’s never been afraid of tackling huge tasks herself, and is an example to all who know her. Her sincere concern for the people she meets is obvious to all.”
She has a son, daughter, and son-in-law as well as three grandchildren.