Bend High to honor 5 distinguished alumni

Bend Senior High School will honor five distinguished alumni during Homecoming events on Friday.

This year’s honorees include:

• Jessie Evans, Class of 2002, a State Department employee who has served Sudan and East Africa, and spent a year in Kabul at the U.S. Embassy and who worked in Myanmar as a Conflict Specialist.

• Cheri Roarig Lovre, Class of 1967, a school crisis specialist, who developed the Flight Team response concept and who helped schools in the aftermath of several shootings, in New York after 9/11 and at an orphanage in Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami.

• Carol Roarig Palmer, Class of 1960, a nurse who served in many areas, including at the Oregon School for the Blind, in hospice and who has been a 21-year volunteer for the Flight Team, which helps in crisis response.

• Phil Peoples, Class of 1942, a World War II fighter pilot who worked at Boeing as a design engineer and engineering supervisor who worked on the Saturn Booster Rocket, among other items.

• Malerie Pratt, Class of 2004, the youngest-ever inductee, who helped create a foster home in Zambia for vulnerable children and who is in medical school with the goal of becoming a doctor working in Africa.

“I am wowed by this group of outstanding alumni who showcase the incredible contributions our graduates make to not just their community, but to the world,” said Principal Christopher Reese. “We are proud to celebrate them.”

The alumni will be recognized during events throughout the day on Oct. 16. The honorees will attend a student assembly at 11 a.m. in the Bend Senior High School gym, which will be emceed by Bob Shaw. The alumni and their families will be escorted to Punk Hunnell Stadium by Principal Reese and will be recognized at 6:30 p.m. prior to the start of the Homecoming game at 7:05 p.m.

Plaques honoring these distinguished alumni will be hung in Bend Senior High School near plaques honoring former recipients near the main office.