(Photo Credit: Doug Pfeiler)
Corban Student Athlete Esther (Suelzle) Ybarra Succumbs To Cancer; Honored Friday Night
La Grande, Ore.- Esther (Suelzle) Ybarra, a member of the Corban University volleyball team and University family lost her battle with cancer on July 24th.
Esther joined the Corban volleyball team in 2014 as an opposite/setter after graduating from Cascade High School in Turner, Oregon. She’d received the All-League Honorable Mention in 2013, and had participated in the USA Volleyball Tryouts in Colorado Springs.
She was diagnosed with cancer during her first semester at Corban, and while she had to set aside volleyball as well as her studies (she’d been planning to major in Health Science, and would have graduated in 2018), she continued to inspire her teammates with her strength and beauty.
Although she was unable to continue as a student, Esther’s life was changed by Corban, as she met her husband Jacob Ybarra there. Their first date was on Valentine’s Day 2015, and they became engaged a little over a year later. They were married on October 29, 2016, at Salem Heights Church.
During their year and a half of marriage, Esther made their home beautiful and assisted Jacob in his work with Aflac. She loved being Mrs. Jacob Ybarra. Jacob and Esther were actively involved in the ministries of Salem Heights Church and Solid Rock Church.
She passed away peacefully at OHSU on July 24, 2017, preceded in death by Thaddeus, Esther and Jacob’s baby boy whom she carried for 13 weeks.
Esther is survived by her husband Jacob Ybarra, her parents Ron and Teresa Suelzle from Aumsville, and her siblings Elizabeth, Daniel, Benjamin, Marilyn, Andrew, and Rachel.
The 15
th-ranked Warriors will be taking on the 25
th-ranked Eagles of Northwest University (Wash.) on Friday evening, and the first 200 Corban University students with I.D. at the match will receive a free t-shirt. The t-shirts have been specially designed to honor Esther with her #12 on them and will be given to Warrior students at the gate on Friday evening.