KURT AND BETTY SPANEL
2007 HONOREES

Kurt and Betty Spanel have served St. Joseph Parish in Santa Ana for the past thirteen years.  Kurt has served as the Principal and Administrator of St. Joseph School and Betty has served as the Parish Manager at St. Joseph Church for the past nine years.

Kurt is currently splitting his time between St. Joseph School and Project SUCCESS where he serves as the executive director.  Project SUCCESS is a group of parents, teachers and administrators from the four Catholic elementary schools in Santa Ana.  Project SUCCESS is dedicated to ensuring that a Catholic elementary school education remains accessible, affordable, and available to the many Catholic families in Santa Ana.

Kurt received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Vanguard University and more recently received a Masters Degree in Catholic School Administration from the University of San Francisco.  Betty received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from U.C.L.A.

Kurt and Betty have been married for 30 years and have two children, Brian a U.C.L.A. graduate is now teaching at Fremont High School in Los Angeles, and Kayla a senior at U.C.L.A.  Recently, with the passing of Kurt’s sister Leslie their family has grown to include Austin, in the 6th grade at St. Joseph School, and Kristy, a Sophomore at Mater Dei High School.

Though both Betty and Kurt graduated form public high schools in the Imperial Valley they understand the great treasure that our Catholic schools are to the Diocese of Orange and to our nation.  Along with their niece and nephew who are currently attending a Catholic school, their children Brian and Kayla attended Catholic schools K-12.

JOHN AND JEANETTE O'CONNOR
2007 HONOREES

John and Jeanette O’Connor are founding parishioners of St. Kilian Parish in Mission Viejo and sometime congregants of Holy Trinity Parish in Ladera Ranch where they celebrate with their children, Michael and Colleen, and their families.

John is the Founder and Managing Director of Shamrock Supply Company, Inc., a wholesale distributor of industrial supplies and supply chain management services, headquartered in Santa Ana, and is joined in the business by his five children.  John has served as President of the First Friday Friars (a Catholic men’s organization) and President of the Mater Dei High School and Santa Margarita High School Parent’s Boards.  Currently, he serves as Director on the Advisory Boards of the Luévano Foundation and the Achievement Institute for Scientific Studies, ensuring the continued viability and accessibility of Catholic education and fostering the education of underprivileged students throughout Orange County.

John completed his primary education at Elyria Catholic High School (Elyria, Ohio) where he lettered in football, earning all-conference and all-American honors, and was awarded a bachelor’s degree in the field of Business Administration from the University of Dayton, where he attended on a football scholarship.  Having completed studies at St. Joseph Catholic High School (Cleveland, Ohio), Jeanette earned a registered nursing degree at Mercy School of Nursing (Toledo, Ohio).
 
Beginning their relationship as schoolchildren at St. Mary’s Catholic school in Elyria, Ohio, John and Jeanette have been married for 42 years and reside in Mission Viejo where they raised their children, Mary Kay, Kelly, Michael, Colleen, and Megan and where they now enjoy the clamor of their eleven grandchildren and anxiously await the births of their twelfth and thirteenth.

With gratitude, John and Jeanette are the beneficiaries of Catholic education, and have cultivated this legacy with their children who completed their primary education at Mission Parish School of San Juan Capistrano, Mater Dei High School and Santa Margarita High School and who have variously attended the University of San Diego, University of San Francisco, and the University of Dayton.

SISTER CECILIA DURAN, ODN
2006 LUÉVANO SCHOLARSHIP DINNER
EDUCATIONAL HONOREE

Sister Cecilia Durán, O.D.N. is an Orange County native, born in Fullerton and reared in Placentia. Sister attended Saint Mary School, in Fullerton, graduated from Mater Dei High School and entered the Sisters of the Company of Mary soon after graduation. 

Sister Cecilia received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from California State University, Los Angeles, an elementary teaching credential from Loyola Marymount, and a Master of Arts degree in Education, as well as a Credential in School Administration from the University of San Francisco.

Sister Cecilia’s educational career spans 35 years, from the barrios of East Los Angeles to the cities of Orange, Tustin, and now, Santa Ana. Sister has taught all elementary grades, except for 3rd and 4th, served as Director of Religious Education at La Purísima Parish for 7 years, and is currently “celebrating” her 20th year as principal.

Sister attributes her desire to serve others via education to her parents, Ted and Marian Durán, and to the Sisters of the Company of Mary, who have a rich legacy of education, having been founded 400 years ago by Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac for the very purpose of education.

Sister Cecilia appreciates the generous contribution that the Luevano Foundation is making to education in Orange County Catholic Schools and will continue to support its mission through prayer and promotion of its goals and ideals.

MS. MARY ROURKE
2006 LUÉVANO SCHOLARSHIP DINNER BENEFACTOR HONOREE

Mary Rourke is a journalist and novelist who has written about the arts and religion for the Los Angeles Times. Earlier she wrote about Art and Architecture for Newsweek Magazine in New York City.

Her first novel, “Two Women of Galilee” is new this spring. It is a work of historical fiction about a friendship between two of the women in the Gospel, Mary the mother of Jesus and Joanna, one of his followers who was healed by Jesus and helped finance his public life.

Mary was born in Connecticut, raised in New York State and graduated from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. She has a master’s degree in art history from Queens College and another in religion from Yale Divinity School.

Her Catholic education, from kindergarten through college, steeped her in the Catholic traditions of social justice and intellectual pursuit. She supports the Luévano Scholarship Foundation so that young people today can have the same rich experience.  

Mary has four brothers and one sister, many nieces and nephews. So far, she has never been married.