LAKE FOREST – For Marcus Kerner and his wife, Joanna, the 4-foot bronze Angel of Hope in the children’s section of El Toro Memorial park has become a coveted place to remember their son, Daniel.
“Our neighborhood friends placed a brick here in Daniel’s honor so our family would have someplace close to come,” said Marcus Kerner, 56.
Daniel, 10, died April 12 after battling Batten disease. Now, his name etched on a brick that lies at the foundation of the angel statue with 214 others.
The Kerners of Trabuco Canyon, with children, Lauren, 15, and David, 13, were among hundreds who huddled in the cold shrouded in candlelight amidst graves surrounding the statue.
The 9th annual candlelight memorial service commemorated all children – recent and long ago – whose lives were cut short. The El Toro angel is one of 90 nationwide but is the only one in Southern California. Vigils are held every year nationwide at 7 p.m. Dec. 6.
Chaplain Brad Stetson, a professor of religious studies at Chapman University and California State Long Beach gave the 2010 address. At the conclusion, hundreds placed white carnations at the angel’s base and publicly announced the child they honored.
“Against all odds, you’ve been changed for the better,” Brad Stetson said, recalling the loss of his own child. “Not because your child died but because your child lived and lives in you still. Bookmark this evening in your heart. Your life is better. Your heart has been shattered and been rebuilt and is more open to others. Someday you may be the one who gives hope to the hopeless.”
The Angel of Hope memorial was brought to Orange County by Lisa Biakanja, who lost her baby daughter 25 years ago. Biakanja found out about national movement during a seminar in Utah in 2000. Richard Paul Evans, author of “The Christmas Box,” a bestselling novel about an old woman who daily left a white flower at her child’s grave near an angel monument, spoke about his own angel of hope.
Overwhelmed, Biakanja went to see the statue at Salt Lake Cemetery.
She raised $20,000, getting money from corporations and individuals. A significant donation came from Yorba Linda resident Shirley Zink, who lost her son, Steven, to suicide in 1988.
Contact the writer: 949-454-7307 or eritchie@ocregister.com
