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Class of 2021

Blanchet’s 2012 varsity softball team brought home the first OSAA 3A State Championship in softball in school history in June 2012. The team racked up a spectacular run of victories, advancing them to the championship game. They shut out Myrtle Creek 20-0 in the first round of the state-playoffs and then passed by their fellow conference players of Pleasant Hill 5-4 in the quarterfinal game. Following that was a battle against Dayton with a final score of 10-5 in Blanchet’s favor, taking them into the championship game. In the end, the Lady Cavaliers took the state title in a 5 – 1 victory over conference rival Santiam Christian on June 1, 2012 at Oregon State University’s softball complex.

Coach Jerry Orlando

Jerry Orlando was Blanchets Head Softball Coach in 2012 and 2013.  Under his leadership, Blanchet’s softball team won its first OSAA 3A State Championship in 2012 and placed 3rd in the state in 2013.  Jerry was inducted into the Oregon American Softball Association's Hall of Fame, December, 2012.  In his first year as head coach for Blanchet, he was named the 3A state coach of the year.

Jerry has been married to Kay Orlando for 54 years and together they have two children, Marc and Alyssa.  Jerry served in the US Army Veterinary Corps doing biological warfare research.  He has a doctorate in Veterinary medicine and together he and Kay founded the Keizer Veterinary Clinic in 1969.  Jerry is officially a retired veterinarian and is currently serving as President of the Greater Pacific NW Retriever Trial club. 

Assistant Coach Jorge Banuelos

Jorge Banuelos was Blanchet’s assistant softball Coach in 2012 and 2013.  He also coached the Oregon Panthers Gold team from 2008-2015.  Jorge has been married to Jennie Banuelos for 29 years and together they have two daughters, Ashley (‘11) and Alee (‘14), both Blanchet graduates.  Jorge is a wholesale Nursery Manager at Neuschwander Nursery.

Alee Banuelos (‘14)

Alee Banuelos was an infielder for the 2012 Softball team and was named 1st Team Infielder All Conference as well as 2nd Team 3rd Basemen All-State.  Alee graduated from Blanchet in 2014 and went on to Portland State University, where she graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.  Alee has a son, Brodrick.  Brodrick goes to Head Start and loves his teachers.  He loves the movie Cars, playing with trucks and trains, bubbles, and drawing. She is currently a Critical Care Technician in the Cardiovascular ICU at Salem Hospital and has been accepted to Chemeketa's nursing program for Fall 2021.  

Sami (Belleque) Gianella (‘13)

Sami Gianella was an infielder for the 2012 softball team and was named 2nd Team All-Conference.  Sami graduated from Blanchet in 2013.  While at Blanchet, Sami was involved in Volleyball, Basketball, Softball, Outdoor Club, FOB, and Spirituality Team.  She was Valedictorian her senior year and was also named Female Athlete of the Year.  After Blanchet, Sami went on to Gonzaga University to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Accounting and International Business in 2017, and is currently working towards her MBA through Eastern Washington University.  She is currently a Senior Accountant (CPA) at Portland General Electric and is a volunteer instructor with Financial Beginnings Oregon.  Sami married Blanchet Alum Trey Gianella (‘13) in 2017.

Allie Butterfield (‘12)

Allie Butterfield was an infielder for the 2012 softball team.  Allie had an illustrious softball career while at Blanchet, earning many honors including: First Team All Conference (2010, 2011, 2012), All Mid-Valley Team (2010, 2011, 2012), First Team All State (2010, 2011, 2012), PacWest Conference Player of The Year (2011, 2012), 3A Oregon Player of the Year (2012), and ESPN Top 100 Recruit List (2011).  After Blanchet, Allie attended Arizona State University, where she was recruited to play softball for the Sun Devils.  She also played in the Women's College World Series (2013) and received Pac12 All Academic Team Honors (2014, 2015, 2016).  Allie graduated with Scholar Athlete Honors in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Family and Human Development.  Allie is currently a Learning and Development Trainer with State Farm Insurance.  She is engaged to Shay Bubnack and they plan to be married on March 26, 2022.

Kelly Doyle (‘15)

Kelly Doyle was a member of the 2012 softball team.  Kelly graduated from Blanchet in 2015 and went on to attend Arizona State University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sports Journalism.  Kelly is currently a Digital Content Producer for KOIN 6 News.

Kayla Hari (‘13)

Kayla Hari was a pitcher for the 2012 softball team.  She earned 1st Team Pitcher All-State selection honors.  While at Blanchet, Makayla was involved in softball, soccer, and basketball.  She was also a member of Blanchet’s National Honor Society.  After graduation at Blanchet in 2013, Kayla went on to attend Willamette University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2017.  While at Willamette, Kayla earned All-American Scholar Athlete recognition in 2016.  She then received her BSN from Concordia University in 2020.   She is currently an RN BSN at Salem Health.  Kayla was recently accepted into a nurse practitioner program (DNP) which will begin in September 2021.

Lauren Kessel (‘14)

Lauren Kessel played 1st base for the 2012 softball team.  Lauren earned 1st Team 1st Baseman All-Conference honors as well as 1st Team 1st Baseman All-State honors.  While at Blanchet, Lauren was involved in softball 2011-2013, soccer 2011, basketball 2010-2013, and golf 2014.  In addition to the softball honors mentioned above, Lauren also was named 2014 PacWest Girls Golf Player of the Year.  After graduating at Blanchet, Lauren went on to attend Corban University and Warner Pacific University, earning a degree in Sports Management and Marketing.  While at Corban, Lauren was the Women’s Golf Team Captain from 2014-2017 and was a National Qualifier in 2016.  Lauren is married to Taylor Kessel and together they have a son, Kayden.  Lauren is currently working as a Fitness Coach at Courthouse Club Fitness and is the Head Women's Golf Coach at Willamette University.

Brianna Marcus (‘15)

Brianna Marcus was a member of the 2012 softball team.  While at Blanchet, Brianna participated in volleyball, basketball, softball, Friends of Benedictine Club and was a member of Blanchets DECA Chapter.  After graduating from Blanchet in 2015, Brianna went on to attend the University of San Francisco where she was a member of the Delta Zeta sorority.  Brianna graduated from USF in 2019 with a degree in Communication Studies.  Brianna is currently a supervisor at Costco.

Elise Sullivan Miller (‘15)  

Elise Sullivan Miller was a member of the 2012 softball team and graduated from Blanchet in 2015.

Madeline (Moz) Rempel (‘15)

Madeline (Moz) Rempel was a member of the 2012 softball team.  While at Blanchet, Madeline participated in softball and soccer and was a member of Blanchet’s DECA chapter and a member of the National Honor Society.  AFter graduating Blanchet in 2015, Madeline went on to study at Portland State University where she double majored in Human Resource Management and Management and Leadership. Madeline married Cory Rempel in 2018 and is currently a People Operations Specialist for AnywhereWorks.

Solize Ortiz (‘13)

Solize Ortiz was a member of the 2012 softball team.  Solize was named Player of the Game for the 2012 State Softball game.  After graduating Blanchet in 2013, she went on to attend Chemeketa Community College where she earned an Associate Degree.  Solize is the proud mom to two dogs and is currently a Crew Boss with the Wildland Firefighting Crew.

Chloe Rabb (‘15)

Chloe Rabb played in the outfield for the 2012 Softball team and earned 2nd Team Outfielder, All-Conference honors.  She graduated from Blanchet in 2015.

Aubrey Ruiz (‘14)

Aubrey Ruiz played infield for the 2012 Softball team and earned Honorable Mention Infielder All-conference honors.  She also earned 2nd Team All-Conference honors in 2013 and Honorable Mention All-Conference Infield honors in 2014.  While at Blanchet Aubrey participated in softball, volleyball, basketball and was a statistician for the football team.  She also was a member of Friends of Benedictine club, the Spirituality Team, Math Decathlon, Prom Committee, and National Junior Honor Society.   After graduating from Blanchet in 2014, Aubrey went on to St Edward's University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications in 2018.  While at St Edwards Aubrey played softball during the 2018-2019 season, was a member of their Campus Ministry Retreat Team, Vice President for the Lambda Pi Eta National Honor Society, and also participated in the Study Abroad Program in Perth, WA, Australia.  Aubrey is currently a Service Delivery Manager at Clearwater Analytics.

Manami Uehara

Manami Uehara was a member of the 2012 softball team.

Taylor Wolf (‘14)

Taylor Wolf played catcher for the 2012 softball team.  In 2012, Taylor earned 1st Team Catcher, All-Conference honors as well as Honorable Mention Catcher, All-State honors.  In 2013, she earned 1st Team All-Conference and 1st Team All-State honors and then, in 2014, earned 2nd Team All-Conference Catcher honors.  While at Blanchet, Taylor participated in volleyball, basketball, swimming, softball, Earth club, Spirituality team, and Friends of Benedictine. She was also a member of Blanchet's DECA chapter and National Honor Society. Her senior year, Taylor also earned an OSAA Award of Excellence, a DECA award and an OSAA Scholar Athlete award.  After graduating from Blanchet, Taylor went on to Saint Martin's University where she was a member of the Women's Softball team and earned GNAC All-Academic Team honors in 2017 and 2018.  While at St Martins University, she also was a member of the Benedictine Scholars Program and the Tri Beta National Biological Honor Society.  Taylor graduated from St Martins in 2018 with a Bachelor's of Science in Biology.  She then went on to Concordia University where she received her Bachelors of Science in Nursing in 2020.  Taylor is currently an RN at the VA Portland Medical Center and also an assistant coach for NW Nitro Fastpitch 18u.

Dr. Shawn Lonergan attended St. Luke’s Catholic School in Woodburn from first through eighth grade and then attended high school at Blanchet Catholic, graduating in 2001. While at Blanchet, Shawn was on Student Council all four years and Student Body President his senior year. He was also an Eagle Scout and a founding member of the Friends of Benedictine service club; lettered in track, soccer, and baseball; and was a member of the National Honor Society. Shawn attended college at the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated in 2005. He also holds two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University. 

Shawn had a distinguished career while on active duty as a cyber officer in the United States Army, where he served overseas in Germany and Iraq, as well as domestically at the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command. Shawn also returned to West Point to serve as an Assistant Professor in the Academy’s Department of Social Sciences and Chief Research Scientist in the Army Cyber Institute. Among other accolades for his service, Shawn has been awarded the Bronze Star, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, two Army Meritorious Service Medals, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, and the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command MacArthur Leadership Award, given annually to a single officer for superb leadership. 

Most recently, Shawn has served as a Senior Advisor to the Congressional U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission and the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition. Shawn is currently a senior director in the Cybersecurity, Risk, and Regulatory practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers and is a field grade officer in the U.S. Army Reserve's 75th Innovation Command

Brandy O’Bannon graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Willamette University with a Bachelors degree and then earned her MBA (focused on non-profit administration)  with honors from the Atkinson Graduate School of Management at Willamette University.  With twenty years of experience in non-profit administration and fundraising, Brandy is currently the executive director of the Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital Foundation.  Prior to Lebanon Community Hospital Foundation, Brandy worked as the Senior Resource Development Director at Family Building Blocks for six years.

Blanchet was blessed to have Brandy as its Development Director from 2002 to 2013. During that time, Brandy was responsible for donor and alumni engagement, fundraising, events, grant writing and managing the development team. Under her leadership, Blanchet blossomed with several successful capital campaigns, including the additions of the Wiegand Arts Center, Charles E Lee Student Center and much more. She developed the annual service day and career day and was instrumental in increasing the school’s use of technology and expanding the fine arts program and curriculum. Brandy’s fondest memories at Blanchet include the friendships she made working alongside parents and students, including twelve years of leading auctions and the Friends of Benedictine club.

She actively volunteers in the community with the Lebanon Strawberry Festival, the Rotary Club of Lebanon where she serves as President, and the Optimist Club of Lebanon.  O’Bannon is a recipient of the prestigious Gerald E. Bruce community service award from The Ford Family Foundation and the Blanchet Catholic School president’s award.

Brandy has a very busy and active life with her significant other, Vidal Pena. Their involvement and community activities span three counties – Marion, Polk & Linn.  Together they enjoy community theatre, live music, volunteering and adventuring as a family with Vidal’s 12 year old son and Brandy’s 15 year old cousin who is a part of their extended family.

Sherrie Moran was born and raised in Saginaw, Michigan.  She attended the University of Michigan where she received her Bachelor of Science in Biology and then went on to Western Oregon State University to receive a Masters degree in Integrated Science.

While working on her masters degree, Sherri taught at Sacred Heart High School in Salem and then at Saint Luke’s School in Woodburn.  In 1985 she began teaching at Queen of Peace School and taught there for fourteen years.  Sherri joined the faculty at Blanchet when our doors first opened and was the Science department head for eleven years.  Her first couple years of teaching at Blanchet she didn’t have access to a  sink or proper science equipment but Sherri persevered and made significant contributions to Blanchet Science department.

Among her professional achievements, Sherri was a state finalist for the Presidential Award of Excellence in Science and Math.  She was also honored as Blanchet’s distinguished Educator of the Year in 2002.  Sherri retired in 2005.  She says, “the best part of retirement for me has been having more time to spend with family and friends.”  When she retired she went through an ESL teaching program and became a tutor for a young woman named Ofelia with whom she remains friends to this day.  After retirement, Sherri also became involved in the Master Gardener's program and found a home at a food bank garden where she still volunteers and often brings her  grandchildren and friends along as well.

Kenneth Steiner was born in David City, Nebraska, one of five children of Lawrence and Florine Steiner.  His father died when Kenneth was very young, and the family then moved to Oregon, where he attended St. Rose Grade School in Portland.  He graduated from Mount Angel Seminary High School and College in 1958, and studied for the priesthood at St. Thomas the Apostle Seminary in Kenmore.

Bishop Steiner was ordained a priest by Archbishop Edward Howard on May 19, 1962.  His first assignment was as an associate pastor at St. Monica Church in Coos Bay, where he remained until 1967.  He then served at St. Mary's Cathedral (1967–1970) and St. Stephen Church (1970–1972), both in Portland.  In Portland, he also began a marriage preparation program and a ministry to divorced and separated Catholics.  In 1972, he was named pastor of Holy Name Church in Coquille with its missions in Myrtle Point and Powers.  He then served as pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Roy (1976–1978) and chairman of the Priests' Personnel Committee (1976–1977).

On November 28, 1977, Bishop Steiner was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Portland and Titular Bishop of Avensa by Pope Paul VI.  He received his episcopal consecration on March 2, 1978 from Archbishop Cornelius Power, with Bishops Elden Curtiss and Alfredo Méndez-Gonzalez, at the Portland Civic Auditorium.  In addition to his episcopal duties, he served as pastor of St. Mary Church in Corvallis (until 2000), Vicar for Clergy and Clergy Personnel Director (1978–1980), Vicar for Worship and Ministry (1979–1981), and chairman of the Priests' Retirement Facility Committee (1986–1993).[3]

Bishop Stiener served as archdiocesan administrator before the appointments of Archbishops Francis George (1996) and John George Vlazny (1997). He served as pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Milwaukie (2000–2002) before being named to St. Edward Church in North Plains.  He also serves as Vicar for Senior and Infirm priests and a member of the Resource Development Office.

Larry and Jeanette Epping were married in 1949.  They lived in Salem and together raised their five children -  Tracy Lawrence, Randy Charles, Daniel Patrick, Shawn Marie and Gary James.  Larry and Jeanette were married for over 63 years and from humble beginnings built a life focused on service and giving back to their community.  

Both Larry and Jeanette served on numerous boards and commissions and were recognized for their efforts.  Jeanette served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Benedictine Nursing Home, a member of the St. Vincent's PTA, and was a tireless volunteer for several charitable causes.  When Larry was named Salem’s First Citizen of the Year in 1993, he was cited in the U.S. Congressional Record for his outstanding contribution to Salem and the State of Oregon, serving on over 25 boards, commissions, and volunteer agencies.  In particular, he was cited for founding the Salem Catholic Schools Foundation.

In 2001, together they founded the Larry And Jeanette Epping Family Foundation which has supported numerous organizations in the mid-Willamette Valley including Blanchet Catholic School.  The Foundation has been instrumental in Blanchet’s capital campaigns to improve the school and its programs as well as supporting on-going maintenance for the building and grounds.

Through the family foundation the Eppings have quietly supported many projects in Salem and elsewhere in Oregon—a legacy that will continue for generations to come.