Thousands turn out to mourn loss of four Angwin students

In prayer and laughter, 2,300 people mourned in Angwin Thursday morning, the loss of four male students joining students, faculty and family members together to pay solemn tribute to their lives.

“This is the saddest week in history,” said School President Richard Osborne, who spoke to the gathering at the school’s 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, a 22-year-old American History major from Honolulu and Bible group leader for a Korean Adventist student association.

And for Boaz Pak, a 20-year-old pre-pharmacy major from Hidden Valley Lake and a youth group leader with the Rohnert Park Korean Seventh-day Adventist Church.

And for Simon Son, a 19-year-old nursing major from Hidden Valley Lake and a volunteer with homeless ministries.

And for Chong Shin, a 20-year-old pre-dentistry major from Aloha Ore, a tutor and evening activity coordinator with the Rohnert Park Korean Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The four students from Pacific Union College near St. Helena 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 for their residence hall and the number that died.

But Angwin’s anguish, seen in empty faces on some, tears on others, is not that these men died. Most on this hillside campus believe they will see them again in the afterlife.

Instead their anguish is that these men were not unique or remarkable. That their deaths could have been anyone’s death.

For the 1,300 students on the Seventh-day Adventist campus, community service is a way of life, said Julie Lee, a school spokeswoman.

“They were pretty typical of PUC,” Lee said. “We really encourage service and outreach and students give back to the community.”

As for the circumstances of the crash that killed them,a close-to-midnight run to Safeway in Saint Helena for some snacks, “Everyone does it,” said junior Isaac Anjejo of Loma Linda.

“Everyone drives down to Safeway, especially at night. And if I’m going, I’ll grab a couple of guys.”

Just like Nishikawa, Pak, Shin and Son, Anjejo said, who had just finished playing basketball on campus about 11 p.m. Saturday when they decided to drive the eight miles to Safeway.

They piled into a 2003 Honda Civic and began the drive down from Angwin. Pak lost control of the Honda on the last turn before the road straightens and rolls onto the valley floor.

He was driving excessively fast, according to the California Highway Patrol.

His car slid into the oncoming lane and collided with a Toyota T-100 pickup truck driven by Sandalio Martinez, 28, of Angwin.

The four young men died at the scene about 11:45 p.m.

Now four white, flower strewn crosses mark that place on Deer Park Road, made more poignant by the ashy crash remnants still littering the roadway.

The road past the site of Nishikawa, Pak, Shin and Son’s deaths is the only way in and out of the campus from Saint Helena.

“Everyone will see it for a long time,” said sophomore Darin West, of Loma Linda.