2023 Women of Wisdom nominees announced

By Reader Staff

Since 1999, more than 100 local women have been honored with the annual Women of Wisdom achievement award to commemorate their influence on the community. According to the Women of Wisdom organizers, a nominee “possesses vision and achieves goals through collaboration,” as well as exhibiting a “love of learning through the pursuit of knowledge by study or experience.”

Women of Wisdom show a commitment to the Bonner County community, have a positive impact on areas such as art, theater, dance, sports education and service. Nominees demonstrate dedicated leadership that results in admiration and respect from others.

The 2023 Women of Wisdom have been announced, and they include Donna Deshon, Joan McCormick, Joyce Price, Carolyn Sorentino and Mary Sturgis.

They will be honored on Saturday, June 17 at an 11 a.m. gala brunch at the Ponderay Event Center (401 Bonner Mall Way).

Donna

Deshon

The committee recognized Donna Deshon with a Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her many years of service to the community. Deshon moved to Sandpoint when she was 12 years old and is a graduate of Sandpoint High School’s Class of 1973.

Deshon started downtown business All Smiles in 1989, and longtime residents will fondly remember both its bright-pink façade and the pink Volkswagen Beetle that she drove with the All Smiles logo. Deshon served as president of the Downtown Business Association and, during her tenure, helped organize and fundraise for the first community Christmas tree. She became a member of Chamber Ambassador Members of Sandpoint and served as a member of the Sandpoint Planning and Zoning Commission.

Deshon served on the board of directors of the Festival of Sandpoint under three different executive directors. Beyond that, Deshon has volunteered for Lost in the ’50s, Kinderhaven, Sandpoint Jr. Miss, Community Assistance League, Better Together Animal Alliance, Bonner General Health and the Healing Garden, among others.

Joan McCormick

In recognition of her contribution to Bonner County as a teacher, principal and lifelong educator, the Women Honoring Women Committee honored Joan Francis McCormick with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award.

McCormick was born on March 18, 1937, in LaGrande, Ore. She married Ron McCormick in 1957. The couple were happily married for 47 years. In 1966, Joan, Ron and their children moved to Sandpoint. While raising three school-aged children, Joan pursued her goal of a college education, taking night and summer classes, commuting to Coeur d’ Alene and Moscow. McCormick began her teaching career at Lincoln Elementary (now Lake Pend Oreille High School) in 1970 while finishing her college coursework. She received her B.A. in education from the University of Idaho in 1971.

McCormick received her master of education degree in 1974, and served as principal at Sagle Elementary — becoming one of the first female principals in the school district.

She was a Sagle Lakeside 4-H leader and a Girl Scout troop leader, an active member of the Sandpoint Presbyterian Church, the Bonner County Education Association, the Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce, Sandpoint Jr. Miss and Alpha Delta Kappa — the latter an honorary service sorority for women educators. McCormick also volunteered with hospice, the Bonner County Election Board and Fair Board, and hosted many Shrine Club functions.

She and Ron were the original owners and operators of the Stove Corral in downtown Sandpoint. In the last year of her life, while she was battling cancer, Joan and her family participated in the Relay for Life to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

Joyce Price

The Women Honoring Women Committee bestowed a Lifetime Achievement Award on Joyce Price, who embodies the principle of giving back to her community through service and leadership.

Price currently serves on the board of direc- tors for North Idaho Habitat for Humanity and the Community Assistance League. She is the past president and current secretary of the local chapter of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, an organization dedicated to providing educational opportunities for female students worldwide. In addition to the Monday Hikers, she regularly volunteers at the Festival at Sandpoint, the Festival of Trees, the Bonner County Museum, the Long Bridge Swim and with Bonner County Elections.

Born in Tacoma, Wash., Price attended Western Washington University in Bellingham, earning a B.A. in speech pathology and audiology. She followed that with a B.S. in computer programming, a B.S. in business and information systems and a M.S. in project management. Price worked for Boeing as a senior manager in the Security Division until her retirement in 2016.

Following retirement, Price and her husband, Mike, relocated to Sandpoint.

Carolyn Sorrentino

Now in her eighth decade, Carolyn Sorrentino approaches each day with positive energy, passion, and a heart full of love and support for her family, friends and community.

Born in Southern California, at age 30, Sorrentino and her then-husband bought a house and relocated to North Idaho with their two young children, Wayne and Wendy.

Sorrentino later married Doug Pennington, and daughter Holly joined the family. Sorrentino and Pennington later divorced, as well, and she and her kids moved to Kootenai. It was there that Sorrentino made a group of friends originally known as the “Bucket Tree Gang.”

In 1993, Carolyn married Dwight Sorrentino. The couple are celebrating their 30th anniversary.

In 1997, when their dear friend Kathy Pelland was tragically killed by a drunk driver, the Bucket Tree Gang began raising money for a memorial for Pelland. They started with a bench on the Dog Beach Trail and improvements to the bike path and just kept on going. They changed their name to “Angels Over Sandpoint” and a movement was born.

Over the past 25 years, the Angels have raised more than $1.5 million for the community. As a founding member, Sorrentino has served on the board as an officer and director numerous times and has volunteered as an Angel for 25 years.

Sorrentino has also volunteered with the Festival at Sandpoint, Cub Scouts/Boy Scouts, Priest River Ministries, CHAFE and as a Salvation Army Bell Ringer.

Mary Sturgis

Born in Niles, Mich. and raised in Albany, Ore., Mary Sturgis met her husband, David, the summer before she began college at Oregon State and they were married after her junior year. The Sturgises are the proud parents of Brian and Heidi and three grandchildren. Sturgis taught part-time while her children were small and, once they reached school age, she began teaching kindergarten full-time in Spokane.

The Sturgis family loved sports — skiing Schweitzer in the winter and recreating on Lake Pend Oreille in the summer. They bought a condo in Sandpoint at Whiskey Jack and the family spent all their free time there. In 2006, with their children launched, Mary and Dave retired and moved to Sandpoint full-time.

Sturgis then immersed herself in the community: serving CAL as a volunteer, then as a team leader and eventually a board member. She manages the “Blankie Program” between CAL and Bonner General Hospital and volunteers several days a month at Bizarre Bazaar. She also volunteered with PAFE’s Ready for Kindergarten program, the school district’s Kaleidoscope art program and as a CASA advocate, continuing her lifetime love for working with children.

The Sturgis family is a dedicated member of the Sandpoint Presbyterian Church, where Mary volunteers and sings in the choir. She signed up to assist with the church’s Summer Bible Camp and became the organizational leader.

In 2007, Mary’s grandson Henry was diagnosed with cystinosis, a rare, multisystem genetic disorder. There is no cure for cystinosis and, because it is so rare, there is no federal funding for treatment or research. The Sturgis family formed its own cystinosis fundraising arm, and through a partnership with Schweitzer, began hosting “24 Hours for Hank,” a 24-hour ski race benefiting the Cystinosis Research Foundation. “24 Hours for Hank” held its 15th annual event at Schweitzer in March 2023.