In Memory

Maxine Torbert (French Teacher)

R. Maxine TORBERT 1916 - 2004 SHS Teacher
OBITUARIES - THE CASPER STAR-TRIBUNE - October 09 2004

SHERIDAN - Memorial services for Sheridan resident R. Maxine Torbert, 87, will be conducted at 11 a.m. Monday, Oct. 11, at Champion-Ferries Funeral Home in Sheridan.

A reception will follow at the Holiday Inn.

She died Oct. 5, 2004, at Sheridan Manor.

Born Dec. 20, 1916, in Letcher, S.D., she was the daughter of Irl and Evelyn (Knutson) Rearick; was raised and educated there, graduating from high school; and graduated cum laude from Yankton, S.D., College.

After moving to Sheridan in about 1940.

In 1941, she married Hollis C. Torbert in Hardin, Mont.

She taught high school for 37 years in Dayton, Ranchester, Big Horn and Sheridan; and was named Wyoming teacher of the year in 1974.

A member of the Wyoming Education Association board, she received its Gold Key award in 1984. She was president of the Wyoming Foreign Language Teachers' Association and served on the professional standards board of the State Department of Education. Her foreign language program at Sheridan High School was recognized in a book published by the U.S. Department of Education and American Council of Foreign Languages.

She volunteered at the Senior Citizen's Center and served on the board of its council for seven years; wrote articles for the "Silver Threads" column in the Sheridan Press; served in the Silver Haired Legislature in 1986 and 1988; was an AARP volunteer; and served as a representative for the Division of Aging Advisory Council, a delegate from Wyoming to the White House Conference on Aging and a consumer member of the Board of Nursing.

Survivors include two sons, Steve of Sheridan and Max of Casper; brother, Raymond Rearick of Rapid City, S.D.; sister, Marcella Jacobus of Seattle; three grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.

She was preceded in death by her husband in 1960; parents; and a son, Terry.

Memorials may be made to "Sheridan County Experiment in International Living" Scholarship Fund, in care of Karen Green, First Interstate Bank, P.O. Box 2007, Sheridan, WY 82801.