Class Notes

I have lived in many places since I left St. Helens Hall. I now live in the small town of Schertz, Texas. It is close to Randolph Air Force Base and San Antonio.

I miss living near the West Coast. When I lived in Boise, Idaho I met a former SHH boarder. We attended the same church and by fate we discovered we were at the Hall at the same time. I was in the Upper School and she was in the Lower School. We were both boarders. Small world!

Four friends from the Class of 2020 joined together in New York City last month to celebrate Isabelle Torch '20, who competed in the 2025 New York City Marathon. They even made a sign recollecting when Isabelle chose to walk the OES Middle School mile!

Left to right: Alexa Tsai '20, who works in San Francisco and was in New York for business; Isabelle Torch '20, who works in New York City; Harper Hummelt '20, who is attending grad school in New York; and Sophie Chen '20, who also works in New York City.

Hello, fellow OESians! Have you ever wanted to taste figgy pudding? I can help! I started a small business that makes Figgy Pudding Baking Kits. These kits make great gifts and the pudding is absolutely delicious.

Please check out my business at figgypuddingkit.com. I hope these kits will find their way into many families’ homes and create special holiday memories.

Chandler Hatton ’02 just hit the one-year mark as CTO of Fairphone, a consumer electronics company committed to fighting planned obsolescence with repairable, long-lasting smartphones and headphones. Since 2023 she’s also been serving as non-executive director at Refuels, a renewable bio-methane supplier for the UK’s commercial truck fleets. Chandler has been living in the Netherlands since 2006 and is based in Rotterdam with her partner and their two children.

I got married to my husband, James, in August in Tuscany, Italy. Angela Chou (’10) and her husband were also in attendance. We live in Toronto, Canada with our two dogs.

A number of OES former faculty got together at a reunion at the home of Jack and Cathy O’Brien to honor former Head of Upper School (1993-98) Anne Cass and her husband, Dick Cass, who came west from Maine to visit friends.

• Back row: Reed Clarke, Corbet Clark, Jon von Behren, Jack O’Brien, Kris Van Hatcher, Dick Cass
• Middle row: David Streight, Myra Clark, Cynthia Doran, Debby Schauffler, Pamela Vohnson
• Front row: Sue Jensen, Lynne Sadler, Cathy O’Brien, Pat Freeman, Anne Cass, Sue Knight

Dana Lewis organized the event but was unable to attend. At the party, but missed the photo: Nancy Rubovits, Charyl Cathey
 

Nathalie and her husband Sarvesh were delighted to welcome their third child at Thanksgiving and are enjoying their first year as a family of five!

Eight alumnae from the class of '73 gathered in Portland recently to trade stories about dorm life, day-student life and all the life that has happened since we graduated. The group included (pictured, from left): Kitty Church, Anne Ellis, Sally James, Martha (Bullwinkle) Dorrell, Leann Correa, Evelyne (Griswold) Moyo, Mimi Ku and Nancy Bogue. We met at the wonderful Italian restaurant, Ernesto's, which is actually quite close to campus. People traveled from Arizona, San Francisco, Seattle, and Bend, among other places.

Viewing the 1970s through today's turmoil was a fresh take. If you weren't there, let's just remind you that we entered St. Helen's Hall as freshmen wearing uniforms and attending female-only classes with even lunch separate from the boys in Bishop Dagwell Hall. We graduated in co-ed classes, wearing jeans with a designated smoking area, called the Gazebo, on our campus. It was four years of incredible accelerated social changes and political upheaval.

A wonderful day was spent on the links at McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale with friends, followed by dinner, as we celebrated the birthday and recent retirement of Dan McMurtry on May 25, 2025. Pictured left to right: Jim (friend of the McMurtrys), Jeff Honeyman ’73, John Sanford ’73, Chris McMurtry '75, Dan McMurtry ’73,and John Poss ’77.

Mikaelah matched into the ophthalmology residency program at Stanford–Byer’s Eye Institute. She will graduate from the University of Michigan Medical School in May 2025.

Celebrating my 50th birthday in Bora Bora, my favorite place. My husband John and I married 11 years ago and will celebrate 28 years together in February. As someone who grew up in Oregon, I’m amazed that I fell in love with Los Angeles and have lived in California since graduating from OES. Three years ago, I started my own company, Bright Triangle. We provide process improvement, business intelligence, and presentation services. I enjoyed seeing my classmates at our reunion, and I hope to see more of you in ’28.

I recently sold my home in Henderson, Nevada and have moved to an independent/assisted living facility in Sisters, Oregon. I am closer to family members, all of whom live here in Oregon. I am also closer to OES, thus enabling me to perhaps attend some events as they occur.

Laurie Huang ’10, Roong Wongsmith ’10, Cynthia Lu ’10, Joshua Hou ’10, and Mark Chou ’12 recently reunited in Taipei for Mark’s sister Angela Chou’10's wedding to her husband and fellow Stanford alumni Joshua Wong. Angela and Joshua now live in London!

I’m in my second year at Northeastern University, where I’m studying environmental and sustainability sciences with a minor in data science. I studied abroad in Thessaloniki, Greece for the first semester of my freshman year, and I joined the Northeastern Club Basketball team this past semester. I recently began an internship at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, where I’ll be working in the Automated Aquatic Facility Lab (AAF) until mid-May. I’m very excited about the chance to test and improve entirely unique systems focusing on marine invertebrate husbandry and research, as there are no systems similar to the ones used in the AAF at any other lab in the world.

I'm also looking forward to conducting my own independent research on environmental health in relation to tropical coral morphology with help from the other researchers in the lab, which could ideally be published by the end of my internship period.

I recently wrapped up my internship at Taiwan Mobile as an IT intern. Those 12 weeks were quite the journey and provided a valuable learning experience!

I had the opportunity to build a file management tool using Java and PostgreSQL, which led to a significant increase in document management efficiency. This experience taught me the importance of creating adaptable code and the value of learning new programming languages and software to develop impactful company tools.

One of the most valuable lessons I learned was the importance of effective communication. I regularly explained my progress and asked questions in Chinese and English, presented a tool demo in Chinese to the IT department, and learned the importance of understanding, listening, and adapting when working in a second language. 

My mentor, Jason Wang, and my colleagues in the IT Department gave me guidance and support that was invaluable in shaping my experience and I extend them my heartfelt thanks.

Brent Erensal ’74 is in the center of this photo taken Thanksgiving 2024 at the Half Moon resort in Rose Hall near Montego Bay, Jamaica. Brent and his wife Nina (in green dress) were married at the Sugar Mill at Half Moon in November 1990 and have been returning more than annually as a family tradition. Also pictured are several descendants of another alum, Drew ’73.

Pictured left to right: Brent’s nephew Drew E. Erensel, his wife Kim, and baby Adriana; Esme Erensel, holding Seraphina Jane Erensel; Lorin, husband of niece Sophia W. Erensel, in red dress; Nina Erensal and Brent Erensal; their son Hunter Howard Erensel and his wife Katherine; son Pearce Ferhan Erensel, his wife Stephanie, and baby Sabrina Ingrid Erensel.

Ellie Ward did not technically graduate from OES, but transferred to Phillips Exeter Academy in her sophomore year and thought it would be nice to say hi to the OES fam. She graduated in 2021 from the University of Michigan and moved to Atlanta this fall to attend Emory Law School, focusing on IP & patent law. Alums should feel free to reach out if they are ever in town!