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C L A S S
We got a note from Becca Steele ’11 recently, with the photo above. She writes: “I just wanted to submit this photo of three UP alumni in Washington, D.C. to Portland Magazine. I work for Senator Ron Wyden and was taking photos of an event for World War II veterans from Oregon. While there, I ran into Jim Souza and his wife Dagny. Jim was class of 1952 and played on the UP football team. Also in the photo is Christian Parker ’13, who just graduated and is interning for Congressman Greg Walden. Pictured left to right: me, Dagny, Jim, and Christian.” Thanks for writing, Becca, we’re glad to have UP alumni roaming the Halls of Power. perintendent for Spokane Catholic Schools, director of education for The Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon campus schools, an adjunct teacher at Gonzaga University, and a supervisor of student teachers at Marylhurst University and the University of Portland, where she served from September 2009 to April 2011. She was a member of the Sisters of St. Mary’s of Oregon for 24 years and a member of the Sisters of the Holy Names for eight years. Survivors include her brother, Larry Lockie and his wife, Sharon; and several nieces and nephews. Our prayers and condolences to the family and her religious orders. We lost UP biology professor David Alexander on May 23, 2013, when he passed away after a two-year battle with cancer. He died in Vancouver
with his wife and their son by his side. David was born and
raised in El Paso, Texas. He earned a B.S. in biology in 1979 and an M.S. in 1983, both from the University of Texas at El Paso. His Ph.D. in soil science was awarded in 1987 from Texas A&M University. David moved to the Portland area in 1990 and joined the biology faculty at the University of Portland in 1995, where he taught primarily microbiology. He was recently awarded the Becky Houck Award in recognition of his years of service as the department’s health professions advisor. David is survived by his wife, Paula Tower; son, Kevin
N O T E S Alexander; father, Harold Alexander; brother, Hal Alexander; and niece, Allyson Frantz. He was predeceased by his mother, Elizabeth Rowe Alexander; and brother, Byron Alexander. Contributions may be made to CaringBridge.org or your local hospice. Our prayers and condolences to David’s family and many friends and colleagues. Sister Mary Katharine McNassar, SNJM, passed away on May 30, 2013, at Mary’s Woods in Lake Oswego, following a brief illness. Mary was the third of 11 children born to John Leo and Mary Katharine McNassar, Sr. During her early years, Mary moved with her family to Denver, Colo., Cheyenne, Wyo. and in 1954, to Portland. After high school, she followed a call to religious life, joining the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary at Marylhurst. When Mary professed her vows in 1960, she took the religious name of Sister Ann Carmel. Following her retirement in 2005, Mary continued to serve her family, friends, and religious community as a caregiver until the time of her own illness. In 2010, Mary celebrated her Jubilee Year, honoring 50 years as a member of her religious community. Survivors include her brothers, James, Thomas, and Michael; sisters, Alice McNassar, Maureen Zehendner, Jeanne McNassar, and Kathleen Stewart; brother-in-law, Walter J. Zenner; sisters-inlaw Barbara “Mufti” McNassar and Suellen McNassar; and 60 nieces, nephews, and greatnieces and nephews, all of whom she dearly loved. Our prayers and condolences to the family and Sr. Mary’s religious community. Rev. Richard Berg, C.S.C., and Rev. Michael Heppen, C.S.C. are celebrating their 50th Jubilee with the Congregation of Holy Cross in 2013. Fr. Berg graduated from Columbia Preparatory School in 1954 and earned a Ph.D. in psychology on The Bluff in 1969. In 1974, he was appointed Religious Superior for the Holy Cross Community in Oregon, and taught psychology at the University of Portland. He became dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 1978, a post he held until
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1991. In 1989, Fr. Berg was asked to serve as pastor of the inner-city St. Vincent de Paul Downtown Chapel, now St. André Bessette Catholic
Church. There he began his ministry of urban outreach to the poor and mentally ill in Portland’s Old Town. Eventually his team built the 54-unit Macdonald Center, an assisted-living facility a block from the parish, believed to be the first Medicaid-only facility of its kind for the frail poor in the country. Today he serves as chaplain at Mary’s Woods, a retirement community of 50 Holy Names Sisters and 400 residents located at Marylhurst, Ore. Fr. Heppen was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Mark McGrath, C.S.C., on June 13, 1963. He spent his first year after Ordination at Notre Dame, completing an M.B.A. and serving as Rector of Keenan and Zahm Halls. He then studied at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He was then assigned to the University of
Portland, where he taught finance and became a member of the administration of Fr. Paul E. Waldschmidt, C.S.C., serving as development director from 1971 to 1975. “Portland was a challenge, yet Paul and Fr. Joe Powers, C.S.C., were solid priests and articulated a post-Vatican II vision for a Catholic-sponsored university,” he recalls now. “I had met Joe Powers when I was a student at Moreau Seminary. He had taken an interest in