JOHN PAULDING THERRIEN 1927-2023

Oneof Eastside Catholic School’s founding board members and a co-founder of the Options Program, John Therrien, passed away in February 2023. John spent years dedicating his time to help raise money to launch ECHS and later build a strong foundation for the school’s success. Our community is forever grateful for his dedication to helping create the Options Program. As John said in 1984, “EC is a community of believers: believers in the value of young people and believers in the goodness, dignity and growth potential of all people.”

John Paulding Therrien was born February 19, 1927, and passed away peacefully on February 14, 2023—a fitting day for his big heart. Beloved husband, father, grandpa and great grandpa, he is survived by his six children: Marc (Rene), Betsy Squires (Chad), Laurie McCloskey (Mike), Mary Kay Thompson (Peter), Michel (Lynn) and Jennifer, 17 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

John attended Seattle Prep, graduating in 1944. He joined the Army, served for two years and returned to attend the University of Washington, graduating in 1952. In 1957, John met the love of his life, Ann Davis, and the two married the same year. John worked in the insurance business and started his own company. Later, he earned his MA in family counseling, sold life insurance, and worked as an estate planner. John was an Eastside Catholic High School founding board member and helped create the Options Program for high-school-aged children with developmental disabilities. These ventures culminated in 1996 when he and his wife Ann founded Community Homes Inc., a non-profit dedicated to providing residential housing and oversight for adults with developmental disabilities. Today, Community Homes owns eight homes and two shared-living homes.

John deeply loved God, his family and his friends and will be remembered for his joyous spirit and wonderful sense of humor. Donations can be made in memory of John to Community Homes, Inc., PO Box 1240, Bothell, Washington 98041-1240.

2000

Mary Whisseil Pashek shared that she is celebrating her 10th wedding anniversary in August.

2003

Lindsay Huse Kestin welcomed her first child in January 2023. Justine Martin finished her third and final year of art lessons and graduated from art school. She recently submitted artwork to support thyroid cancer awareness month with her support group.

2005

David Roberts lives in Orange, California and has two children.

2009

Garret Schmidt shared that he took a chance and jumped into the career of his dreams three years ago. He is currently a realtor in the greater Seattle area with Coldwell Banker Bain Bellevue and loves his work. He is also a competitive NPC men’s physique competitor. Prior to his current role, he rode as an equestrian athlete for years and worked as a stylist for both Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus.

Elizabeth Adan recently had three pieces of artwork accepted into a gallery showing for “Sum of Our Parts” at the Third Street Gallery in Moscow, Idaho, and was invited to give a poetry reading from recent and upcoming published books.

2011

Cami [Silverman] Croy and Ryan Croy welcomed a baby daughter, Annalise Croy, born November 2022.

2012

Madeline Kossik has returned to Seattle and started her general surgery residency at Virginia Mason Medical Center after completing medical school and receiving her MD from New York Medical College.

2013

Chad Brown and Katie Brown welcomed a baby boy, Jackson Cameron Brown, on January 17.

2014

Aly Sonnen received her Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the Medical College of Wisconsin in May and will begin her residency in pediatrics at the University of Michigan Mott Children’s Hospital in July. Aly is a 2018 graduate of the University of Notre Dame where she earned a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience.

Julia DeVitis is currently wrapping up her second year of law school at Gonzaga University School of Law with a focus in criminal law. Last summer, she had the incredible experience of working with the King County Prosecutor’s Office in the MDOP Unit (Most Dangerous Offender Project), which is within the Homicide and Violent Crimes Unit. This summer, she is excited to be returning to KCPAO as a Rule 9 intern in the District Court Unit. Julia graduated from Gonzaga University with a degree in criminal justice and a minor in Italian studies in 2018. She worked at Carney Badley Spellman, P.S. (a corporate law firm with a focus on construction and business litigation) for three years.

2016

Emma Abraham welcomed a baby girl named Paisley in March 2022. Emma moved back to Washington from Michigan last summer, and has recently started a new position with the U.S. House of Representatives as the Communications Assistant & Grants Coordinator for Congressman Derek Kilmer (WA-06) at his District Offices in Tacoma, WA.

2017

Caroline Sonnen received her Master of Art’s in organizational leadership from Gonzaga University in May.

Caroline is a 2021 graduate of Gonzaga University with a degree in computer science and earned a minor in leadership through the Comprehensive Leadership Program. Caroline is a software developer consultant at Slalom Consulting in Seattle.

2018

Matthew House is an aerospace engineering student and current AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) Student Chapter President at Florida Tech. He received the AIAA Outstanding Officer Award as well as the Outstanding Branch Award for his and fellow chapter officer’s community outreach presentation at the AIAA Regional II conference. Their community outreach provides fun, inclusive and engaging STEM activities to local area elementary, middle school and high school students.

2020

Options Program alumna Caitlin Burrows begins her college-bound journey in Fall 2023. Caitlin was accepted into the ROAR Program at Washington State University.

2021

Grace Burroughs is a sophomore at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota. Next year she is taking a year off to participate in NET (Nation Evangelization Teams) Ministries in Scotland. NET is a Catholic mission organization that trains and sends out groups of young adults to middle schools and parishes. After her year abroad, she plans to complete her bachelor’s in elementary education and Spanish. She is currently fundraising to support her efforts. If you would like to learn more or support Grace, contact her at graceburroughs18@yahoo.com