Dr. Bernadine Craft has given a lifetime of service to Rock Springs and Sweetwater County. 

Now she’s being recognized for her generosity as an inductee to the 2018 Rock Springs High School Hall of Fame.

Dr. Craft will be honored along with 10 other inductees and two team to the Hall of Fame this Saturday evening at the Sweetwater County Events Complex.

The event is open to the public and tickets are available at the School District No. 1 Central Administration Building, Rock Springs High School and Bi-Rite Drugs.

SweetwaterNOW, in association with Tanner Family Dentistry, continues it profile series on all the inductees to the Class of 2018 Rock Springs High School Hall of Fame.

Dr. Bernadine Craft (in her own words)

I’m a Rock Springs native, graduating as Valedictorian from RSHS in 1968. 

I received my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Speech Communications and Theatre and a Master of Arts Degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Utah. 

My PhD is in Professional Psychology from the University of Northern Colorado, where I was the Commencement Speaker and received the Graduate Dean’s Citation for Excellence. 

I also held the graduate Teaching Assistantship, and was elected to serve as Chairperson of the Western Region for the American Counseling Association.  

I worked as a high school counselor in Salt Lake City, returning to RS to become the counselor at White Mountain Jr. High School, a position I held for 27 years. 

During this time I also served as President of the Wyoming Counseling Association, as National President of the Association for Humanistic Counseling and as a member of the Executive Committee of the American Counseling Association. 

I also became a hatha yoga instructor, an interest I have continued to the present day. 

I was selected as the Executive Director for Sweetwater BOCES in 2004, a position that continues to excite me as we work to provide a wide variety of enrichment opportunities for Sweetwater County. 

Additionally, I continue as adjunct psychology faculty at WWCC, and maintain a small private psychotherapy practice.

 I served for ten years in the Wyoming Legislature, most recently in the Wyoming Senate, where I served in leadership as Minority Whip, and was the only female Senator.

I also served on the Finance Committee and Health and Human Services Committee for the Western Council of State Governments and the Health and Human Services Committee for the National Council of State Legislatures. 

I was honored to receive the “PEACE Award” from the Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault for my legislative work in this area, as well as the “Friend of Education” from both the Wyoming Education Association and the Sweetwater Education Association. 

As a legislator, my focus was always on underserved populations and being “the voice for those who have no voice.” 

As such, I was also honored by the Wyoming Public Employees Association, AARP, the American Heart Association, and the Humane Society of the US. 

I was ordained in 2014 as the first female priest to serve my home parish, Holy Communion Episcopal Church in Rock Springs, and Oregon Trail Memorial Church in Eden. 

I also serve as the Dean of the Red Desert Region in the Diocese of Wyoming, and on the Board of Directors for the Foundation of the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming, where I chair the Development Committee. 

I am the Chairperson of the Diocesan Suicide Prevention and Intervention Task Force. 

My seminary education was through Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado and the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. 

I spent many years as the church organist, and still love to play the organ and piano every chance I get. 

I serve on the Wyoming Humanities Council and the Wyoming Women’s Foundation.  I am a Past President of the Kiwanis Club of Rock Springs, Treasurer for the Sweetwater County Concert Association, and a member of PEO. 

As the anniversary for Women’s Suffrage in Wyoming approaches, I am honored to be featured in a series of statewide podcasts as a Woman in Wyoming. 

I feed my lifelong passion for theater with an occasional role in various community theater opportunities and through a variety of speeches and workshops.  

After many years of marriage I lost the love of my life, Dr. Larry Hill, to cancer, and live today with my ragdoll rescue cat, Grace, who helps me highlight the beauty of rescue pets and my passion for animals by serving as the “Spokespet” for the Red Desert Humane Society. 

My daughter Cindy lives with her family in Iowa City, where she works as a research psychologist. 

There’s an old cowboy poem that says once sagebrush gets in your blood, you can never really leave! 

I’m happy this has proved true in my case; I love my hometown of RS, and hope to continue serving this community who has given me so much for many, many years into the future!