Remembering Yvette Velasco: First San Bernardino Terror Attack Victim Laid To Rest
COVINA (CBSLA.com) — Hundreds of people attended a funeral in Covina Thursday for one of the 14 people killed in the terror attack at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino on Dec. 2.
Yvette Velasco, 27, of Fontana, is the first victim from the massacre to be laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Covina Hills.
Velasco worked as an environmental health specialist at the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, which was holding a holiday party when the massacre unfolded.
Her family and friends remembered her as a beautiful person, who was quiet, hard working, sweet and thoughtful. Velasco's three older sisters spoke at the service, remembering their baby sister who brought so much joy into their lives.
Her father, Robert, who recently retired as a California Highway Patrol lieutenant, kissed his daughter's coffin after speaking about her.
"It has been very very tough for him, very tough,"said her friend's father Reggie Royster.
Family friend Anna Robinson said "I thought it was a very beautiful service. It was simple, but it did send the message of support and love and what a special person she was."
Family friend Chuck Franklin said he wanted to send love to her relatives. "We just want to say God bless you, that we love each and every one of you and you're in our thoughts and our prayers."
Velasco's uncle said on the day she died, she was supposed to get a badge recognizing her as a county health inspector. The FBI gave that badge to her family Wednesday.
The other victims were Sierra Clayborn of Moreno Valley, 27; Aurora Godoy of San Jacinto, 26; Damian Meins of Riverside, 58; Robert Adams of Yucaipa, 40; Isaac Amanios of Fontana, 60; Bennetta Bet-Badal of Rialto, 46; Harry Bowman of Upland, 46; Juan Espinoza of Highland, 50; Shannon Johnson of Los Angeles, 45; Larry Kaufman of Rialto, 42; Tin Nguyen of Santa Ana, 31; Nicholas Thalasinos of Colton, 52; and Michael Wetzel of Lake Arrowhead, 37.
Funeral services are expected to be held in Georgia for Johnson, whose girlfriend works on a crisis-intervention team in the office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
A visitation will be held for Nguyen at 10 a.m. Friday at Peek Funeral Home, 7801 Bolsa Avenue in Westminster. Funeral services will take place at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Church of St. Barbara, 730 S. Euclid St., Santa Ana, with interment at Good Shepherd Cemetery, 8301 Talbert Ave., Huntington Beach.
At 10 a.m. next Wednesday, funeral services will be held for Godoy at Calvary Chapel, 19300 S. Vermont Avenue in Gardena, followed by interment at Green Hills Mortuary and Memorial Chapel, 27501 S. Western Ave. in Rancho Palos Verdes.
