We would like to let you know about a beloved member of our campus family who lost her battle with cancer—a battle, her husband says, that she never intended to lose. You may recall in September, we told you about Shelley Espey ’86 who was seeking support for her recent cancer diagnosis. Shelley died January 31, surrounded by her family.

She was an ’86 graduate, a current Valley Catholic parent (Katrina ’12), and a parent of two alumnae (Adala in ’98 and Nichole in ’09). Shelley had also worked at the SSMO Convent for several years prior to joining SSMO Ministries Corp. in the Finance Dept., where she has worked since 2004. Her most recent position had her stationed in the accounting department at Maryville Nursing Home.

On the same day she died, Shelley’s husband, Dave, wrote a note to her many friends. Below are some excerpts from his letter to them.

Today at 3:05  a.m. we lost one of the kindest people I have ever had the privilege to know. She is my best friend, best mother I have ever seen and loyal friend of all who allowed her to be. She took in all who wanted a mother and loved them like her own. I want to thank all of you who have been praying in earnest for her to be healed. The outcome was not what I wanted but I give God all the praise and glory knowing with total confidence she is now healed and made new in her new home with the Lord.

Plans for memorial services are still pending. When arrangements are made, they will be posted in the News & Events area of www.valleycatholic.org, www.maryvillnh.org, www.ssmo.org and www.ssmofoundation.org. Letters of condolence are being collected at the reception desk at Maryville Nursing Home. Please keep the Espey family in your thoughts and prayers.

Submitted by Alumni and Donor Relations Coordinator Grace LeChevallier

This Wednesday during the Catholic Schools Week Mass, VCS President Bob Weber and VCHS Principal Ross Thomas presented the Distinguished Alumni Award to Pat Roshak Joyaux ’54. The gym erupted in applause as students, faculty and guests honored Pat with an extended standing ovation. Pat Joyaux has been at the heart and soul of Valley Catholic Middle and High School for the past 33 years. Her helpful, compassionate spirit has embodied the mission of the Sisters.

A 1954 graduate of St. Mary of the Valley (now Valley Catholic High School), Pat was an active student on campus. Pat was named junior prom princess, and in her senior year was prefect of the Sodality Club (a devotional society for spirituality).

In 1978, Pat became involved in the school’s Alumni Association and learned of the opening for a school secretary. That year Pat was hired and the rest is history. Besides being an alumna herself, Pat’s five daughters all attended Valley Catholic, as well as 15 grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

In his remarks about Pat, President Bob Weber said, “She has worked with 10 principals in her time at Valley Catholic, hundreds of teachers and staff members (including me as a 22-year-old first-year teacher in the early 1990′s), and helped thousands of students and parents on a daily basis with everything from report cards to bus fare to simply being a positive, helpful person who knows the answers to all the possible questions that come through her office.”

Pat spoke a few words of appreciation in receiving this award. She spoke highly of the value of Catholic education, and referred to it as a gift. She asked the students to be thankful to all those who make it possible for them to receive the gift of an education at Valley Catholic. Speaking from experience, she told the students that their time at Valley will have a significant impact on their lives.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is given to individuals who excel and exceed in their life’s work or personal endeavor. In their area of achievement, recipients demonstrate a high standard of personal integrity and strive for excellence to live a valiant life. In the fall of 2008, Mariel Zagunis ’03 was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award. Mariel is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a world-renown fencing champion. The Distinguished Alumni Award has not been given since 2008, but going forward the award will be presented annually during Catholic Schools Week.

Shannon Verboort Becker ’97: Celebrating God and Life

Story by: Grace LeChevallier

This story was orginally published in Spirit Magazine: Fall-Winter 2011. This is the first in a series of stories of alumni who are living the SSMO’s four core values: Living Valiantly; Honor the Unique Gifts of Person; Striving for Excellence; and Celebrating God and Life.

“He gave her to us.” Shannon Verboort Becker ’97 speaks with gratitude to God as she shares the story of the life of her daughter, Reese. Reese was born on September 20, 2010 to Shannon and AJ Becker and big brother Josh. Shannon beams as she describes her blessed life. Reese brought nothing but joy to the world; the Becker family had it all. Their son Josh adored Reese and wanted to be with her all the time. He wanted to give her kisses even while she was sleeping. When Shannon tried to deter him, he would say it wasn’t fair because “Mommy gets to kiss her and me when we are sleeping.” The family was actually having a problem with too much kissing. Life was blissful. For months, she and AJ would say, very single day, how lucky they were to have Reese. “She made us better than ourselves.”

Thursday, February 10 was a typical weekday. At 12:30 p.m., while Reese was taking a nap, she was found lifeless and blue. Shannon rushed to meet her at the hospital and was able to hold her one last time. “She was so beautiful and peaceful looking.” At only four and a half months, Reese had died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS/SUID).

Shannon wrote on her blog as part of her daughter’s eulogy: “A good friend said to me that Reese was an angel sent to us for a purpose. God saw something in AJ and me, and he knew we could handle it. So he sent us this perfect little angel to teach us something. She had a purpose, and when her mission was complete, she had to leave. She bound our family with her love. I have to believe that she was never ours to keep…that we were just blessed that she chose us for her short visit on this earth. We were blessed to be able to call her our daughter. And now we will spend the rest of our lives missing her, but trying to live up to being the kind of people she wants us to be. And we will strive to learn what she was trying to teach us.”

Shannon remains strong as she shares her story. The locket containing a photo of Reese that she wears around her neck is a continual reminder of the blessing she was given. Her faith has been revitalized through the life and death of Reese; Shannon’s increased faith is just one of many gifts Reese has given the world.

Shannon’s loss has ignited a passion to bring awareness to SIDS, as well as explore new research to reduce the prevalence of SIDS. It is unexpected and undiscriminating. Infants can pass away even in the arms of a parent. Shannon believes that a parent can read all the books and follow all the advice, but sometimes it is not enough. She found that her faith was something she could hold onto.

Since Reese’s death, Shannon has been active in helping to raise awareness, especially through First Candle, an organization that promotes safe pregnancies and the survival of babies through the first years of life. Shannon has followed the research of Hannah C. Kinney, MD, from Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston. Dr. Kinney’s recent study confirms that infants who die of SIDS have an abnormality in the brainstem that affects responses to breathing and carbon dioxide, as well as to temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate.  Research and awareness are vital to increasing the survival of babies, but Shannon recognizes the mystery of life and death.

The pain of Reese’s death remains deep, but Shannon chooses to recognize the gift. She chooses to remain thankful for each moment of the day. She chooses to “Celebrate God and Life.”

For more information on SIDS, visit www.firstcandle.org. According to their website, “First Candle is one of the nation’s leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to safe pregnancies and the survival of babies through the first years of life. Our current priority is to eliminate Stillbirth, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and other Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUID) with programs.

Over 100 Alumni gathered back on campus for Varsity Basketball vs. Warrenton. As Alumni entered the new Valiants gym many were greeted by old friend, Grandpa Jake. Grandpa Jake was thrilled to see old faces and tell stories of days gone by. The Patron Store t-shirt cannon was a huge hit.  Many alumni tried their best as the Alumni Free Throw Completion, but only Sam Bethel made the swoosh. Both the Boys and Girls teams beat Warrenton. After the games many stayed to honor the 2007 teams on their 5 year Anniversary of their state victories (Boys- 1^st place and Girls-2^nd place).

Adria Gredvig was the lucky recipient of the Raccoon Lodge gift certificate. Thank you to Raccoon Lodge for their generosity and hosting our after party. We filled the Raccoon Lodge pub with Valiant spirit and plenty of good cheer. Once a Valiant, Always a Valiant!

Thank you to all our young alumni for sharing their college wisdom with our current seniors. As always Mr. Bernard and eager seniors were full of questions for our alumni panel. Valley Catholic Alumni from a variety of universities ranging from OSU to Johns Hopkins shared their college advice. After the panel discussion our young alumni reconnected with old friends and teachers over subway sandwiches and Christmas cookies.

1970′s

The class of ’71 celebrated their 30^th reunion in Cape Meares, OR. Thank you to Diane Kurilo Duyck for organizing!

1990’s

Jeannine Haener Eisenbacher ‘93 and her family welcomed baby #8 on July 18, Cecilia Ann. She joins John (13), Mary (11), Joey (10), Anthony, (7), Peter (4), and Terese (2), also Angela, deceased. The Eisenbachers live in Woodburn where Jeannine is a stay-at-home mom.

Thank you to all those that ran in Reese’s Run. The run had a great turn out to support Shannon Verboort Becker ’97 and her family. Shannon appreciates all those who supported SIDS – SUDS and her family in this effort.

2000’s

Kelli Tovey ’01 married Carl Horning on September 3, 2011. They married at Garden Vineyards in Hillsboro, Oregon. Carl works as a Firefighter/EMT-I with Washington County Fire District #2 and Kelli is an Insurance agent/CSR at Atkinson Insurance Group.

Madeleine Brink ‘02 has begun her teaching career as a professor of English in the Applied Linguistics Department at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. She accepted this position after graduating from Saint Louis University with a Master’s degree in American Studies.

Melissa Gates Doxtator ‘02 and husband Jacob had their first baby. Noah Jacob Doxtator was born in Milwaukee, WI (where we currently live) on July 25, 2011 at 9:16pm. He was 8 pounds and 22.5 inches long. His godparents are Valley Catholic grads Angie Holmes Elkins ’02 and Nick Gates ‘03

Mariel Zagunis’03 won her fourth career individual medal at the Senior World Championships in Catania, Italy. Mariel’s silver metal marked the third consecutive year Zagunis has fenced in the Senior World Championships with gold medals in 2009 and 2010.

Tyler Schmit ’03 entered Norbertine seminary at St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, CA this August. After graduating from VCHS he attended Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. Please remember Tyler in your prayers as he continues on his journey.

 2010’s

Lisa Wilson ’11 was awarded a scholarship from the Juan Young Trust-Western Division. She continues to seek academic excellence at the University of Oregon Clark Honors College.

Grace Le Chevallier joined the SSMO Foundation Development team in October. She will lead our new focus on alumni and donor relations. Before coming to SSMO, Grace spent three years working at L’Arche, a faith-based community of adults with and without disabilities. Her experience in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and L’Arche ignited her passion for service and community. She continues to carry service into all aspects of her life: she regularly plays cribbage with a friend who has experienced chronic homelessness and actively pursues programs that focus on social justice for the most marginalized people of our society. Grace graduated from the University of Puget Sound with a degree in psychology and a minor in business.

Look for something new by the United We Thrive Readerboard next week! There will be two thermometers installed to share progress for the parent portion of the Capital Campaign. As the end of the school year approaches, it is extremely important to wrap up the parent portion for the Capital Campaign for the new K–8 Education Center. We need everyone’s help!

Speaking of looking for things, go here for a live feed from webcams capturing the ongoing construction on Valley Catholic’s campus. A new feature for these feeds is the inside view of what is happening, so if you haven’t already peeked in at the progress being made, be sure to take a look soon—the construction will be complete before you know it!

Many thanks to everyone who has made generous gifts and pledges! We are closing in on the dollar goal thanks to your generosity! Here are the two key goals we have for now:

1. Watch the thermometer explode as we surpass our $2M target for the parent portion of the campaign. (We only have a little more than $570K to raise!)
2. Achieve as close to 100 percent parent participation as possible—participation is hovering around 23 percent, and it will take help from everyone to achieve this goal!

The new building will offer many exciting features for your children and for generations of children to come. We are hoping you will carefully consider an amount that is comfortable for you and earmark it for your children’s favorite charity! Remember, you can stretch payments out for five years!

Pledge forms may be found here. Contact John Lauerman (503.906.1141; jlauerman@ssmoministries.org) or Diane Woodruff (503.906.1140; dwoodruff@ssmoministries.org) with any questions.

The Catholic Sentinel recently published a story about the construction at Valley Catholic that highlights the sustainability efforts of the project. Go here to read the article.

As the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon begin their year-long 125th Jubilee celebration, the Catholic Sentinel honors the SSMOs with 10 pages of news coverage, photos and sidebars in their Feb. 17 issue. Be sure to share these stories with your friends. Spread them far and wide!

Here’s a sampling of what’s inside:

• New building at Valley Catholic a gem of sustainability
• Many places, many years
• SSMO ministry goes here and beyond
• Two Sisters seven decades apart reflect on their shared community experience
• An extraordinary instructor of the faith: Sister Mary Imelda Vandehey
• Sisters, restaurants and city of Beaverton team up to fight hunger
• Timeline: 125 years for the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon
• These Valiant Women Abide

Alumna Caitlin Krutsinger ’04 has been volunteering with the Peace Corps in Mozambique, Africa. To learn more about her work on a small poultry project benefitting orphans and HIV+ community members, watch this short video.