Opening Doors to Opportunity

A family legacy focused on helping students find success

Tricia Courtney has watched Laramie County Community College change over decades, a reminder that opportunity doesn’t arrive on its own; it’s created when someone decides to take the first step. 

Tricia, a member of the LCCC Foundation’s Legacy Society, has included the College in her long-term estate plans to ensure support for students continues well into the future. She believes estate gifts are an accessible and thoughtful way for individuals to extend opportunity beyond their lifetime, regardless of the size of the gift. 

“The future isn’t guaranteed,” Tricia said. “There are so many ways to leave a legacy, and it doesn’t have to be a large gift to make a difference.” 

Today, she is helping create that opportunity for students through The Watenpaugh Family Scholarship, one of the LCCC Foundation Donor Scholarships, established in honor of her father, Al Watenpaugh, the college’s first dean. 

For Tricia, supporting students through the scholarship is a way to pass on the values that shaped her family long before philanthropy entered the conversation. While she did not attend LCCC herself, her connection to the college runs deep, rooted in family history and a belief that education can change the trajectory of a life when someone is willing to invest in it. 

Her father played a central role in building LCCC during its earliest days, helping establish a new community college in Wyoming at a time when its future was far from guaranteed. Tricia remembers him as someone who deeply believed in education as a pathway to opportunity and in taking thoughtful risks when the chance to build something meaningful presented itself. Those beliefs were modeled through everyday actions rather than grand gestures, leaving a lasting impression. 

“He always believed that if you had an opportunity to help others, you should take it,” Tricia said. 

That mindset eventually became what she describes as “paying it forward.” To Tricia, it is not a slogan but a responsibility — one shaped by recognizing how many people contribute, often quietly, to another person’s success. It’s a simple expectation that if you have the chance to help someone, you do it.

LEGACY SOCIETY MEMBERS