Wyoming Woman of Distinction
Dessie BEbout receives Woman of Distiction award
The Wyoming Council for Women's Issues recognized Riverton resident Dessie
Bebout, second from left, with its annual Woman of Distinction Award on
Sept. 17, 2011 in Riverton.
Cheyenne -- Don't be fooledby the 91 candles on her last birthday cake or by the number - certainly lower -- that pops up on her bathroom scale. Dessie Bebout is a force of nature.
Recognized by the Wyoming Council for Women's Issues with its annual Woman of Distinction Award last Saturday (Sept. 17), the Riverton resident was described repeatedly by more than 70 family members and friends as "something else."
As recently as 2010, Bebout was "a significant part of our steering committee in a very challenging bond issue for a health and science center," said Central Wyoming Community College Board of Trustees President Roger L. Gose, M.D., who spoke during the WOD Luncheon. "Dessie was an inspirational force in what turned out to be a winning vote for the center--other bond and tax issues on that ballot failed." Committee member Margaret Reynolds informally shared with a WCWI member her experience of serving with Bebout. "I've never had so much fun in my life. Bessie was a riot, a delight," she said. "It's a wonderful feeling to observe that women have great power to do things."
As master of ceremonies, Bebout's oldest child, State Senator Eli Bebout of Riverton, spoke of his mother's all-important relationships with "the Lord, her family and her country" and described her World War II service as a WAVE - one of the first Wyoming women to join - as well as her years as a bride and young mother in an unheated, converted boxcar in Bairoil.
From "the other side" of the political aisle, State Representative Ann Robinson of Casper remembered meeting Bebout for the first time at the Wyoming State Championship Old-time Fiddle Contest, hosted annually in Shoshoni. "Dessie had a beautiful smile," she said. Through more than 20 years of fiddle contests, the women became close friends. A past WOD award recipient herself, Robinson, along with Riverton resident Patricia Anderson, nominated Bebout for the award. Letters of support were provided by Gose, CWC President Jo Anne Youtz McFarland and retired U.S. Senator Alan K. Simpson. Collectively, the five created a long list of projects and achievements.
Accepting appointments by former Governor Mike Sullivan, Bebout served on the Wyoming Private Industry Council and Job Training Partnership Board and on the Wyoming Women's Commission. As a Shoshoni resident, she helped launch kindergarten and throat culture programs, was an officer in the Parent Teachers Association, helped obtain a charter for Cub Scouts, became a Scout leader and served as an advisory board member for the school district's Basket of Goods and Vocational Education/Future Farmers of America committees. Her activities also include serving as Shoshoni Chamber of Commerce treasurer, co-chairing the Old-time Fiddle Contest and service on numerousboards, including: One Shot Deer Hunt, Fishing Derby boards, District No. 24 Board of Recreation, Fremont County and Hot Springs County Foster Grandparents, Wyoming Centennial Committee, Riverton Memorial Hospital Board, CWC Foundation and several city and county zoning boards.
She engaged in fund drives for Easter Seals, the Heart Association and the Cancer Society and, as mentioned above, was a member of the steering committee for CWC's Health and Science Center bond issue. Bebout was named Shoshoni "Citizen of the Year" in 1992 and is an honorary life member of the FFA Alumni Association.
In nominating Bebout, Robinson wrote that her friends and family use the words "tenacious, reliable, trustworthy, intelligent, optimistic, mobilizing, organizational and a person who never passes up the opportunity to make the world a better place." In his letter, Simpson described her as "a woman of patience, energy, intelligence, wisdom, thoughtfulness...always a caring and nurturing wife, mother, sister, niece, friend and just one very special person."
Born in Hudson to Dan W. and Bessie Svilar, Bebout graduated from Lander's Fremont County Vocational High School and worked to help her brothers complete college before enlisting in the WAVES and serving in Cheyenne and Seattle in naval communications and dispatch. She later married Herbert "Hugh" Bebout, raised three children (Eli, Nick and Ruby Calvert) and a niece and nephew, owned and operated family businesses with her husband, worked as secretary-treasurer for a Svilar family business and served as postmaster in Shoshoni for 13 years. She received the "Order of the Vest," the highest honor given to postmasters for meritorious service, in 1975 and was recognized three years later as "Outstanding Postmaster of Wyoming. Bebout remains corporate treasurer and director for three family businesses.
WCWI's annual Woman of Distinction Award is a "once in a lifetime" award that recognizes the
recipient's impact on women of families in any or all of several areas: the educational or employment sector, community outreach, legal issues and health and wellness. Previous recipients include, from Baggs: Linda Fleming, from Casper: Ann Robinson and Oralia Mercado, from Cheyenne: Willadeen Chamberlain and Mary K. Schwope, from Ethete: Francis Merle Haas, from Evanston: Denice Wheeler, from Jackson: Mickey Babcock and Cindy Knight , from Laramie: Connie Coca, and from Rock Springs: Kayne Pyatt.
