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Faith sustains family after teen’s Memorial Day drowning death

Faith in God and help from family and friends are sustaining two parents grieving the death of their 16-year-old son, who drowned on Memorial Day at Lake Manawa in Council Bluffs.

“They’re people of faith. They’re grieving. But they have a firm conviction in the resurrection, and that this is according to God’s plan,” said Father William Bond, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Omaha, who presided at the June 9 funeral for Edgar Loarca Garcia, a parishioner whose family is from Guatemala.     

His parents, Jose Loarca Garcia and Maria Garcia Perez, also were joined by family members and friends at a four-hour wake service June 8 at the church.

The family is active in the mostly Latino parish, including a praise and worship prayer group called Fuente de Vida (Fountain of Life) that every Saturday evening draws 200 to 300 people to St. Joseph Church, Father Bond said.  

One of the couple’s 13 children, Edgar had just finished his sophomore year at Central High School in Omaha. He was at the lake with some of his siblings, friends from the prayer group and others when he rolled off an inner tube and into the water. His father arrived as search and rescue efforts were underway and parishioners prayed at the lake.

His family would like him to be buried in Guatemala. Donations to help cover the costs are being accepted by the Edgar Loarca Garcia Memorial Account at Wells Fargo bank branches.

 

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