Memorials set for IE Marines
Processions, services for three killed in Kabul bombing will begin Thursday
Memorial service information for three U.S. Marines from the Inland Empire killed in Afghanistan has been announced.
They were among the 13 American service members killed Aug. 26 in a bombing at the Kabul airport.
The public is welcome to line city streets and pay tribute during processions scheduled for each of the
Marines.
Here are details of the upcoming events.
Cpl. Hunter Lopez
Public processions and memorial events for U.S. Marine Cpl. Hunter Lopez will begin Thursday night and end Saturday.
Lopez, 22, grew up in Indio and is the son of Riverside
County sheriff’s Capt. Herman Lopez, La Quinta’s police chief, and Deputy Alicia Lopez.
Hunter Lopez aspired to follow in his parents’ footsteps and become a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy, a news release states.
The procession will begin at 5:30 p.m. Thursday and move east from Forest
Lawn Memorial Park, 69855 E. Ramon Road in Cathedral City.
It will pass the Palm Desert Sheriff’s Station, 73705 Gerald Ford Drive. The procession is set to end at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 47225 Washington St., La Quinta.
The procession will resume at 9 a.m. Friday from the church and travel past the schools Hunter Lopez attended: Amelia Earhart Elementary School, 45250 Dune Palms Road in Indio; John Glenn Middle School, 79655 Miles Ave. in Indio; and La Quinta High School, 79255 Blackhawk Way. After the procession, his body will be
returned to the church, where a public viewing is set for noon-7 p.m.
Hunter Lopez’s memorial service will be Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Palm Springs Convention Center, 277 N. Avenida Caballeros. After the service, his body will be taken to Riverside National Cemetery for a private burial.
The convention center’s Oasis Room can hold up to 1,000 people. Masks will be required. Public parking will be on Avenida Caballeros.
Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui
A memorial procession and funeral will be staged for Lance Cpl. Kareem Mae’Lee Grant Nikoui of Norco on Friday and Saturday.
Nikoui was a 20-yearold Norco High School graduate.
The public procession for Nikoui will begin at 2 p.m. Friday, moving from Ontario International Airport east on the 60 Freeway to the 15 Freeway going south, exiting at Sixth Street, going left onto California Avenue and then right onto North Drive/Arlington Avenue.
A private burial will take place at Pierce Brothers Crestlawn Mortuary in Riverside.
The public is invited to a celebration-of-life service Saturday at 11 a.m. at
Harvest Christian Fellowship Church, 6115 Arlington Ave., Riverside.
Lance Cpl. Dylan Merola
A procession for Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola of Rancho Cucamonga will take place Sept. 21, starting at the Ontario airport.
The route is as follows: Left on Mission Boulevard, left on Haven Avenue, right on Sixth Street, left on Milliken Avenue, right on Vintage Drive, left on Rochester
Avenue and left on Banyan Street. It will pass Los Osos High School, which he attended. The procession will continue on Milliken, go left on Wilson Avenue, south onto Haven onto the 210 and 10 freeways going west.
Merola was 20.
The public is invited to his funeral service Sept. 26 at 2:30 p.m. at the Forest Lawn mausoleum, 21300 Via Verde St, Covina. Merola will be buried privately at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Covina.