On this Memorial Day, LRE proudly honors two of our many employees who have selflessly served our country.
John O’Hair
LRE’s Director of Development John O’Hair is a U.S. Army veteran who served 10 years of active duty and another 10 in the Army Reserve where he currently holds the rank of Major.
John comes from a military family which includes his grandfather who was an original frogman with the Navy SEALs. Raised in Kenya where his parents worked as missionaries, John eventually attended college in Michigan where he was active in ROTC. “I’d wanted to be in the military since I was a young kid,” he noted. “I wanted to serve in the military. I wanted to serve my country.”
While on active duty, John served two tours in Iraq where he lost five members of his unit, losses he continues to remember, especially on Memorial Day.
“It’s important we recognize those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country,” John added. “I’ll always remember and honor them.”
As a gesture John listed those unit members lost in Iraq as:
SPC Shane R. Woods
SGT Marquees A. Quick
SSG Clint J. Storey
SGT Bradley H. Beste
PV2 David E. Dietrich
Erin Hanratty
As a former U.S. Navy officer LRE Project Manager Erin Hanratty knows about sacrifice.
“Memorial Day is absolutely a time to honor those who have fallen in the line of duty,” she notes. “But it’s also a time to recognize the sacrifices all members of the military make. The time away from family, the bravery needed, the moving from place to place. There’s a lot of challenges.”
A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Erin enrolled in Naval ROTC while in college, then was commissioned as a Navy Ensign after graduation. She would go on to serve as an officer on nuclear-powered aircraft carriers across the globe, overseeing the teams operating and maintaining a ship’s nuclear power plant.
Erin’s decision to join the Navy was driven by equal parts family and her choice of schools. “My brother is in the Army and that certainly influenced me to go into the military,” she said. “Also, service to others is a big part of the backbone of Notre Dame. That philosophy made me want to be part of something bigger than myself; to give back to the community and my country.”
Erin would go on to serve five-plus years in the Navy before leaving to find new challenges, including working in renewable energy. But, she said, her time in the military was a life-changing experience. “I can’t imagine not having served in the Navy,” she concluded. “It played such an important role in my growth and in my life. I’m proud to have served my country and I honor anyone else who has served and sacrificed.”
About LRE
LRE (Leeward Renewable Energy) is a high-growth renewable energy company forging a sustainable future through integrity, innovation, and positive impact. We own and operate 30 large wind, solar, and energy storage projects across the United States, totaling over 3 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity.
LRE has an ambitious goal of 10GW of operating assets by 2028 and is developing and contracting an increasing pipeline of new projects every year. We take a full-lifecycle approach to our projects, built on a long-term ownership model and a company culture dedicated to our community partners and protecting the environment. LRE is a portfolio company of OMERS Infrastructure, an investment arm of OMERS, one of the largest defined pension plans in Canada, with C$128.6 billion in net assets (as of Dec 31, 2023). For more information, visit www.lreus.com.
