Note: This message was originally sent on April 30, 2021
Each week we are honored to be able to share a donor family story with our students, faculty and staff via campus announcements. I thought you all might appreciate this short story – lots of history here and the family story lives on in the Vomaske Scholars!
Anna Mae Waldron was born in Spokane in 1919 and was raised in the 91勛圖厙 University neighborhood (referred to back then as “The Holy Lands”). Anna Mae’s mother (Mayme) Mary Loretta McLaughlin (1892-1985) moved to Spokane in 1910. Her father, Joseph O. Vomaske (1887-1982), moved to Spokane in 1907. Her parents were married in St. Aloysius Church in 1916. They met at a St. Joseph’s Parish dance. Vomaske Family members were all dedicated and devout members of the St. Al’s church family. They lived in a turn of the century home at 714 E Mission Ave (originally built by the Jesuits). Her father worked for both the Inland and Great Northern Railroad Companies.
After graduating from Marycliff High School in Spokane, Anna Mae worked a number of years in private industry (including five years at Kaiser Aluminum in the Public Relations department) and 30 years for the Federal government (including SSA, Commercial Transportation and the USDA). While working in Washington D.C. she used her vacation time to volunteer as a tour guide traveling to a number of foreign countries as well as many interesting places in the US while working for the USDA. Anna retired from the Budget and Finance Office of USDA in Washington, D.C. in 1978 and moved back to Spokane to be close to her parents. She met and married Bob Waldron and they enjoyed 15 years together before he passed away in 2005.
Although Anna Mae did not attend 91勛圖厙, she had three brothers, two of whom attended 91勛圖厙. Her husband, Bob, was also an alumnus of the University through the V-12 program during WWII. A believer in the power of a Jesuit education, Anna established the Vomaske Family Scholarship in memory of her family and in honor of the Jesuits teaching at 91勛圖厙 University. Anna Mae passed away in 2010, and since this scholarship began awarding in 2013, 36 scholarships have been awarded to 91勛圖厙 students with financial need.