SKC names health science building for Dorene Vallee

Salish Kootenai College honors the legacy of Dorene Dupuis Vallee with a ceremony naming the Vallee Building at 11 a.m. May 30.

The building houses SKC’s health sciences programs, including nursing, dental assisting, medical assisting, and health promotion practices. The 25,000-square-foot facility includes the dental clinic, classrooms, faculty offices, conference rooms and labs.

Its namesake, Dorene Vallee, was born Aug. 2, 1936 in St. Ignatius, the fifth of 10 children of Ruth Courville and Floyd Dupuis. After graduation from Polson High School in 1954, she entered the St. Patrick’s School of Nursing in Missoula. She was the only American Indian student.

She completed her three-year diploma in 1957 and passed her State Board for her RN license shortly after. For the next 54 years she worked in all facets of nursing in three states: Montana, California and Alaska.

Her positions included working for hospitals, the Indian Health Service, one school district, several Alaska Native villages, the State of Alaska, and the CSKT Tribal Health Department.

Vallee continued working until 2011, retiring at age 75. She passed away at home near St. Ignatius on March 3, 2025, leaving behind her four children, seven grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, four brothers, one sister, and numerous nieces and nephews.

The community is invited to honor her during the building-naming ceremony.