Super mom to three sons, runner, working professional and hometown girl, Deanne Rife loves Cariboo life.
“I loved growing up here,” she said of her outdoorsy childhood camping and fishing.
Her family was close, and she has two older brothers, one of which was into rodeo, so the family would travel around to his events.
As a teen, she had a boss who was really involved with the Stampede Association and a friend who was Stampede Queen the previous year. This combined with encouragement from her mom, Rose Pinchbeck, all inspired Deanne to run for Stampede Queen in 1994.
She said the competition took her outside of her comfort zone and she learned a lot through the process.
“It was a really, really cool experience,” she said.
Deanne Pinchbeck became the 1994 Williams Lake Stampede Queen and she enjoyed the year of travelling and meeting people across the rodeo world.
Deanne and her husband Mike Rife have three sons, Ryan, Reid and Hunter. Deanne manages to balance being a hockey and rodeo mom with her pursuits of running, mountain biking and as a full time job as the court clerk supervisor for Court Services.
She runs three times a week with a small group of other women.
“It’s a good way to start the day,” said Deanne of the morning runs, noting the sport is good for both her brain and her body.
Each year, she, her mom, and two of their friends participate in the Rocky Mountain Soap Run in Canmore, and make a ladies’ weekend out of the trip.
Thirty years after she was Stampede Queen, she said she still loves the Williams Lake Stampede.
“Stampede is my favourite weekend of the year.”
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