Dessie was born in 1924 and grew up in Roslyn, Washington, where her father worked in the coal mines. After her father died, the family moved to Wapato where Dessie met and was mentored by Janice Sourwine, a Wapato pharmacist. Dessie graduated from the WSC College of Pharmacy in 1947. She eventually got a job in Yakima and became the director of pharmacy at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, a position she held for 42 years. Dessie kept her pharmacy license until 2001.
Dessie was a loyal Cougar and a devoted pharmacist. This scholarship was established through her estate when she passed away in December 2011.
The distributions from this fund shall be used to award scholarships to one or more students in the PharmD program.