A Tribute for San Bernardino Victims
Fourteen people, including several county health department employees who were enjoying a holiday office party, were killed this past Wednesday morning in a terrorist shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California. In addition, another 21 people were wounded. While the media focuses on San Bernardino’s shooters, what is most important is that the victims and their family’s deserve our prayers and attention. Following is a synopsis of each of the victims that were fatally shot. ***Please Note: A few noted victims have set up gofundme accounts to help cover unexpected expenses – those in need will have a gofundme link within their bio that you can click — Perhaps during this Christmas Season we can feel moved to send these family’s some money as a gift in the spirit of love and generosity.
–> 1, Nicholas Thalasinos, age 52
Thalasinos worked as a health inspector for San Bernardino County. He is survived by his wife, Jennifer, and two adult children. He previously lived and worked in Cape May, New Jersey, and moved to southern California to be with his wife, who is a teacher there. He has worked in San Bernardino for about 13 years, his wife said. Thalasinos blogged about conservative politics and often posted about it on his social media pages. He was also a Messianic Jew, and was outspoken about the threat of Islamic terrorism, according to his posts. His friends have flocked to his Facebook page to mourn his loss. “Why? Why does God take away good people?,” wrote Yael Zarif-Markovich. (Facebook)
Kaufman, of Rialto, ran the coffee shop in building 3 at the Inland Regional Center, where the shooting occurred. His boyfriend, Ryan Reyes, told the Los Angeles Times he dropped him off for work in the morning. “He was his usual cheerful, chattering self,” Reyes told the newspaper. In his role running the coffee shop, Kaufman helped train developmentally disabled adults who came to the regional center, the Times reports. He enjoyed attending comic book conferences along with his boyfriend, who told the Times they considered themselves free spirits. They had been together for nearly three years. Reyes told the newspaper Kaufman engaged everyone he met in conversation. (Facebook)
–> 3. Michael Wetzel, age 37
Wetzel, a father of six, a supervising environmental health specialist in San Bernardino County, was among the victims of the shooting, his church said. “Please continue to pray for Renee, his children, and his former wife Amy as they process this terrible tragedy and loss of their husband and father,” Church of the Woods said. Wetzel lived in Lake Arrowhead. Amy Wetzel, his ex-wife, wrote on her Facebook page that she and Mike had three children together. He also had a child with his second wife, Renee, who had two children of her own before they were married. “I have to tell my babies that there dad is no longer here. I have to explain to them the tragedy of today’s events. I have to raise them without him. We didn’t see eye to eye on many things but he was my husband at one point. I loved him,” Amy Wetzel wrote. (Facebook)
–> 4. Damian Meins, age 58
A resident of Riverside, California, Meins, the father of two daughters, was killed in the shooting, his daughter told the Press-Enterprise. He worked for 28 years for the County of Riverside, before retiring in 2010. In September, he started working for the San Bernardino County Department of Environmental Health. He was at a party with his new co-workers when he was shot. Meins also worked as the extended care coordinator at St. Catherine of Alexandria School in Riverside, according to the Press-Enterprise, and dressed as Santa Claus for the school’s Christmas festivities. He is also survived by his wife, Trenna, who is the principal at Sacred Heart school in Rancho Cucamonga, the church said. (Facebook)
A Rialto resident, Betbadal, pictured center, worked as a registered health environmental specialist for San Bernardino County, according to her LinkedIn page. She is survived by her husband, Arlen Verdehyou, a police officer, and their three children, ages 10, 12 and 15, according to a GoFundMe account set up to help her family. She was born in Iran and fled from her home country in 1969 when she was 18 “to escape Islamic extremism and the persecution of Christians that followed the Iranian Revolution,” according to the GoFundMe. She is a graduated of Cal Poly with a degree in chemistry and has worked for the county health department since 2006. ***(GoFundMe)
–> Aurora Banales-Godoy, age 26
Banales-Godoy was an employee of San Bernardino County for three years. She married her husband, James Godoy, in 2012, according to her Facebook page, and they have a young son. She lived in San Jacinto. (Facebook)
A Moreno Valley resident, Clayborn was a registered environmental health specialist for the county of San Bernardino, according to her LinkedIn page. She said she made a “difference daily by protecting people where they live, work and play.” She graduated from the University of California-Riverside in 2010. Last month, she joined others around the world in mourning for the victims of the French terror attack by putting a French flag over her Facebook profile photo. A friend, Timothy Lee, commented on her photo after she was killed saying, “Even as you go, your picture is out of love for victims elsewhere. You are so beautiful Sierra.” (Facebook)
A husband and father from Yucaipa, Adams worked for San Bernardino County as an environmental health specialist. He is survived by his wife, Savannah, and daughter, Summer, according to a GoFundMe account set up to help his family. “Throughout the day and night of December 2nd, we prayed, hoped, and pleaded with God to somehow spare the life of the remarkable Robert Adams. All day we waited for news that he was safely coming home to his beautiful wife Summer and his absolutely precious daughter, Savannah. It is now confirmed this will not be happening,” the group that set up the page wrote. They said of his wife and daughter, “as difficult as it will be, they will never walk alone.” ***(GoFundMe)
As county coroner identifies the rest of the victims we will update this page when photos and more information about them is made available.
Additional victims are:
–> Harry Bowman, age 46, of Upland
–> Yvette Velasco, age 27, of Fontana
–> Tin Nguyen, age 31, of Santa Ana
–> Juan Espinoza, age 50, of Highland
***
Prayer For the Family’s and Friends of the Victims
Oh Lord, We have neither words to speak nor the strength to stand and come to You grief-stricken because of these terrible tragic murders –
and all we can cry is Abba.. Father. All we can ask is – Why?
Lord You know the shocking facts of these tragic murders and You know the deep despair their family’s and friend’s feel as they now have to face the future alone.
Lord we feel so shocked.. so alone.. and so abandoned – so helpless, even though we know within our hearts that You are there with us, and have Your loving arms all around us. Draw the family’s and friend’s of each victim very close to Yourself at this time and always Lord I pray – They and we need You…
Lord we don’t know what to do or where to turn – except to look to You and plead that in Your grace, You will help all those in mourning to get through this – and bring each of them out the other side. Lord, we have no-one but YOU
Help us all Lord to come to terms of these tragic deaths and help the family’s and friends of each victim to face the future with courage.
And Lord, although I doubt that You will ever fully answer my question “why”, yet I pray that You will give each in mourning an understanding heart – and help all in mourning to come to terms with what has happened. Be their comfort, their strength and their hope in Whom we trust, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.