On Memorial Day 2024, we honor and remember all the men and women who have died in military service for the United States. Here at LAC, our Memorial Day Breakfast will be held on Saturday, May 18 at 9 am in the Skyroom (HH400). All active-duty service personnel, veterans, first responders and their families and friends are invited to join us for this special time of gathering.

In November 2023, Colonel Charles Hwang detailed his amazing life’s journey with his family following the Korean War to the United States. Confronted with discrimination in the “promised land,” he spoke of fear and worries and the loss of their family’s home and business in the earthquake of 1994. God was NOWHERE! Charles’ faith in God was elevated and he highlighted; his spiritual journey. God is not NOWHERE but is NOW HERE!

At our Memorial Day Breakfast in May, we will be honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who died in the service of their country. We will give special recognition to Marv Eyler and Mario Vasta, members of LAC and veterans, who passed away in March of this year.

Marv was born in 1934 and graduated from Ohio State University with a full NROTC scholarship. He reported to the destroyer USS Loftberg spending much time in the Pacific Ocean and the Taiwan Straits. He visited Japan and Hong Kong where his lifetime love of Asia began.

After two years of sea duty, Marv left the Navy to pursue a Master of Divinity at Fuller Seminary. He attended Lake Avenue Church where he met his future bride, Joni, and they were married in 1961.

Marv was called back to ministry in the Navy as a Navy Chaplain. His numerous assignments included serving with the First Marine Division Third Battalion at a jungle base in Vietnam.

Marv received a citation for his valor.

Marv retired from the Navy in 1979, and he and Joni served as missionaries for the next twenty years. A member of Lake Avenue Church who served in many capacities, Marv passed away on March 25, 2024.

Born in 1944, Mario entered the Navy in 1962. Recognized as a "Tin Can Sailor," he was assigned to the destroyer USS Thomas DD833 with the Pacific Fleet. Following his initial sea duty, Mario was transferred to the destroyer USS Marshall DD876 as a Torpedoman Second Class. The ship was assigned to the Western Pacific, and Mario was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. He was honorably discharged in 1968 after serving in the Navy for over 5 years.

Mario and his wife, Georgia, have been members at Lake Avenue Church for over 22 years, where they were in the Navigators Class, and he served as an usher. Mario passed away on March 28, 2024.