ANGWIN -- More than 2,300 people came together Thursday morning in prayer and laughter to pay tribute to four students killed Saturday on a rural road leading away from the college that defines life in the hills above Napa Valley.
Pacific Union Crash Memorial
"This is the saddest week in history," said Richard Osborn, president of private Pacific Union College, speaking to the capacity gathering of students, teachers and family members in the expansive campus church.
"It is four times the loss we've had in the past," he said.
The prayers and tears, music and memories were for Luke Nishikawa, 22, an American history major from Honolulu and Bible group leader for a Korean Adventist student association.
And for Boaz Pak, 20, a pre-pharmacy major from Hidden Valley Lake and a youth group leader with the Rohnert Park Korean Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Source And for Simon Son, 19, a nursing major from Hidden Valley Lake and a volunteer with homeless ministries.
And for Chong Shin, 20, a pre-dentistry major from Aloha, Ore., a tutor and evening activity coordinator with the Rohnert Park Korean Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The four students died late Saturday when their speeding car slid into an oncoming vehicle.
Now Nishikawa, Pak, Son and Shin are known around campus as the Newton Four, named after their residence hall.
At Thursday's deeply religious memorial, the men were remembered for their good-natured jokes as much as their commitment to their faith.
They were student leaders, ensuring friends attended church services and discussing Bible passages. But they were as committed to life, and living it fully, as they were to God, friends at the memorial said.
As evidence of that, photos from beach and ski trips, basketball courts, soccer fields, classrooms and restaurants were shown in a tribute slideshow during the service.
Although their deaths may cause pain for the grieving Seventh-day Adventist community that makes up Angwin, Osborn asked residents to let the men "bring positive thoughts, to inspire you."
Angwin is a community already struggling with loss. On Aug. 21, Stacey Guilliano, 17, a soon-to-be-senior at PUC Prep, died when she crashed into a tree in Pope Valley, CHP Officer Jaret Paulson said.
"It's been a hard year for us," said Sandy Pridmore, whose daughter attends PUC Prep. "When we loose kids up here, the whole community mourns."
"We have faith that sustains us, but it is a deep sorrow," said John Tangen, a food services employee on campus.
That was evident this week in the college's dinning hall, where photos of the men, grinning and striking youthful, athletic poses, flashed on a large TV screen in between birthday announcements and the times of worship services.
"You feel it everywhere you go," student Isaac Anjejo said of the grief. He mans the front desk at the residence hall where the men lived.
Angwin's anguish, seen in empty faces on some, tears on others, is not that these men died. Most on the hillside campus believe they will see them again in the afterlife.
Instead their anguish is that these men were not unique or remarkable; each was committed to community service, each had a dream. Their deaths, students and staff said, could have been anyone's death.
"They were pretty typical of PUC. We really encourage service and outreach, and students give back to the community," said Julie Lee, a college spokeswoman.
As for the circumstances of the crash that killed them -- a close-to-midnight run to Safeway in St. Helena for some snacks -- "everyone does it," Anjejo said. "Everyone drives down to Safeway, especially at night. And if I'm going, I'll grab a couple of guys."
Nishikawa, Pak, Shin and Son had finished playing basketball on campus about 11 p.m. Saturday when they piled into a 2003 Honda Civic to drive the eight miles to Safeway.
They almost made it. But Pak, speeding, lost control of the Honda on the last turn before the road straightens and rolls onto the valley floor, according to the CHP.
His car slid into the oncoming lane and collided with a Toyota T-100 pickup driven by Sandalio Martinez, 28, of Angwin.
Behind him, Carlos Rio Ortiz, 20, of Angwin and a man identified by Angwin residents as Martinez's brother-in-law, came upon the crashed vehicles and smashed into them.
The four young men died at the scene about 11:45 p.m.
Ortiz was not seriously injured and was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.
Martinez was seriously injured in the collision, and CHP officials are investigating evidence that indicates he may have been drinking as well.
He was in stable condition Thursday at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, hospital officials said.
Charges against both men are likely to be misdemeanors and not felonies, Paulson said.
"It's a little early to tell, but it's looking more like speed was a factor than DUI," Paulson said.
Now four white, flower-strewn crosses mark that place on Deer Park Road, made more poignant by the crash remnants still littering the roadway.
The road past the site of their deaths is the only way in and out of the campus from St. Helena.
"Everyone will see it for a long time," said sophomore Darin West of Loma Linda.
You can reach Staff Writer Laura Norton at 521-5220 or laura.norton@pressdemocrat.
com.
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