Dr. Thom and Terry Flamboe Graduate Fellowship in Speech-Language Pathology

Thom and Terry Flamboe first met at the Buckhorn Bar in downtown Laramie in 1972. Thom was awarded a Graduate Assistantship in Communication Disorders and Terry was finishing her Liberal Arts degree in Education. Thom came from Detroit, Michigan and Terry was from Casper, Wyoming even though she lived in several Wyoming and Montana cities due to her dad being an oil field roughneck. Thom, wanting to stay in Wyoming, took a job with Head Start in Guernsey, Wyoming and Terry worked for St. Joseph’s Children’s Home in Torrington. She eventually took a job with the county attorney. Thom taught classes on Child Development at Eastern Wyoming College and received a grant to purchase an Impedance Audiometer for the Torrington Jaycees. The “Torrington Free Hearing Screening Project” received awards from the Wyoming Jaycees and Thom performed numerous hearing screenings around the region. Thom and Terry married (unofficially at the ranch they lived on outside of Guernsey and officially in St. Anthony’s Church in Casper) and soon after, moved back to Laramie. Thom coordinated the Wyoming Infant Stimulation Program, a federal grant directed by Dr. Jan Jelinek in the Communication Disorders Department. Terry was employed at 1st Wyoming Bank, working her way up from Executive Secretary to Assistant Vice President. Thom travelled the country working with parents and children as well as conducting workshops and presentations for teachers and nurses, and eventually lawyers, corporations, first responders, university and college staff, and school boards.

When the grant was completed, Thom and Terry moved with their young daughter, Reagan, to Aberdeen, South Dakota where Thom worked at both hospitals as a Child Developmental Specialist establishing programs for parents, siblings, and day care-preschools. Terry was initially employed by 1st National Bank, eventually becoming Norwest Bank, as a Vice President. She was then asked to run several Home Federal Banks as a Market Manager and eventually completed an almost 30-year career in banking.

Thom was then asked to join a Family Medicine group as a Mental Health provider and worked within that group for 20 years. He was able to add to his degrees in Elementary Special Education and a Master’s in Communication Disorder with a Master’s degree in Counseling and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology. He has assisted in the training of DARE officers for 20 years and has provided psychological testing for law enforcement candidates in patrol and corrections. He is a trained Hostage/Crisis Negotiator and was part of the Special Response Team for the Aberdeen Police Department. He has also assisted with training Crisis Intervention Teams successfully interact with people with mental disorders. Thom currently volunteers as a “Mental Strength and Conditioning Coach” for the athletes at Black Hills State University and Terry is happily living her retirement.