Tess Grossman

Three North Central residents were honored last month as part of the Girl Scouts-Arizona Cactus-Pine Council 2015 Women & Young Women of Distinction luncheon, held Oct. 17 at the JW Marriott Camelback Inn.

Verma Pastor

Among the honorees was North Central teen Tess Grossman, a senior at Tesseract School and a Girl Scout Ambassador, who was named a Young Woman of Distinction. In addition to co-founding a creative writing club her school and competing as a figure skater, Grossman has created a support group for deaf children, teens and their parents as the focus of her recently earned Girl Scouts Gold Award. Born with a profound hearing loss in both ears, and among the first to receive a cochlear implant, Grossman has become a leader and advocate for the deaf community.

Being honored as Women of Distinction were North Central residents Verma Pastor and Julia Patrick. Pastor has been actively involved with her community, both personally and professionally, for more than 40 years. Over the years she has been active on numerous boards serving the greater community, including the Girl Scouts-Arizona Cactus-Pine Council board. Her commitment to girls and Girl Scouting has continued long after her board tenure.

Julia Patrick

Pastor remains engaged in the Council’s efforts to ensure that every girl in Arizona who wanted to be a Girl Scout may do so.

Patrick has been an entrepreneur her entire life. Her company, Patrick Media Group, publishes Frontdoors News, Food & Flourish, The Wedding Chronicle and Great Wine News. In addition to building this thriving business, Patrick tirelessly works with nonprofit organizations, community leaders, business owners and philanthropists to help build a stronger community here in Arizona. A fourth-generation Arizona native, Patrick herself was a Girl Scout in the Arizona Cactus-Pine Council.