Monday, August 27, 2012

Close To 1000 People Show Up For GCI Minister Funeral


http://www.jessupbahinting.com/


This man obviously made a huge impact on others lives.

Huge crowd joins family, bids farewell to Bahinting

Pilot’s daughter vows to continue flying school, business amid inquiry

Close to a thousand people bid farewell to Capt. Jessup Bahinting in burial rites held in Ginatilan town, southern Cebu at past 2 p.m. yesterday.

“My dad’s legacy is not only about aviation. His greatest legacy is his faith and love for Jesus,” said his  28-year-old daughter Sarah Lynn.

Requiem services were held in  the  family’s resort by the Grace Community International (GCI), a Christian group where the pilot served as a member of the advisory council of elders.

Sympathizers, most of whom wore white shirts, walked a kilometer from the resort to the cemetery behind the hearse carrying his remains to the Ginatilan municipal cemetery.

“We are overwhelmed by the number of people who came. This proved how good my husband was,” his widow Margarita told  reporter later.

The coffin was carried by students and pilots of  Aviatour Air Inc., the flying school and chartered flight service he founded.

One of the pall bearers was Nigerian pilot David Yakubu whom Bahinting had sent to Camiguin province on a mercy mission to get the anti-venom serum that saved the life of a Cebu zoo keeper.

A four-seater Cessna  flown by Bahinting’s nephew Joedan Bahinting made two passes in the sky while  Aviatour pilots carried the  blue casket.

The casket was placed on its stand for about five minutes.

GCI members sang  while the coffin was being laid in a tomb. A  hundred white balloons were released in the air. White roses were also placed there by family and friends.

The Siquijor-born pilot was laid to rest in Ginatilan, the hometown of his wife, over a week after the  Aug.  18 crash of a Piper Seneca, which Bahinting and his Nepalese co-pilot Kshitiz Chand flew, killling both of them and Interior  Secretary Jesse Robredo in the waters off Masbate City.

Bahinting’s  eldest daughter,  Jemar Rose, 36, flew in from the United States for the funeral.

Youngest son Dan, a pilot based in the US, was unable to come home due to lack of a travel permit.

The funeral reunited Bahinting’s friends from northern Mindanao, Caraga and Zamboanga  Peninsula in Mindanao.

Bahinting served as church leader of Grace Communion International in that area from 1984 to 1991.

Churchmates from Bacolod, Leyte and Bohol also came to pay their respects.

In his message, former senator Juan Miguel Zubiri described Bahinting as a great pilot and a friend.

“When we needed planes, he was there to help us. He never charged the usual rates,” Zubiri recounted.

He said he got to know Bahinting during the 2007 elections. Three days before the accident, Zubiri said he boarded the same plane that crashed off the seas of Masbate.

“That was an accident that nobody wanted. He was one of the best pilots I know. Many know of his big heart. It will be a shame if you let that memory pass away. Let’s keep his legacy flying,” he said.

Zubiri said Bahinting helped a victim in the recent failed ambush of Surigao del Norte Gov. Sol Matugas.

Eugene Guzon, national director of GCI, said Bahinting was very active in their church meetings and activities.

“He was a man of few words but his actions spoke  louder than words,” Guzon told Cebu Daily News.

Syko Wirawan, one of Bahinting’s students, said the flight school owner  treated his students as his sons. “His death is a big loss,” he said.

Zubiri said he will help in appealing to the Civilian Aviation Authority of the Philippines to lift the suspension on Aviatour’s fleet.

Jemar Rose, who is chief operating officer of the company, said they face  a challenge in continuing to run the company amid the  CAAP investigation.

The flying school has over 100 students, many of them foreigners.

“We will work hard to continue what my father started. We will continue his legacy,” she said. /Ador Vincent Mayol and BenCyrus G. Ellorin

LCG: Wayne Pyle Obituary

Louis Wayne Pyle II

Obituary - Charlotte Observer

Louis Wayne Pyle II MATTHEWS - Louis Wayne Pyle II, a native Californian, died at his home in Matthews, NC, at the age of 65 years on August 25, 2012, after a valiant two-year battle with cancer. Mr. Pyle was born in San Francisco on September 28, 1946. At 6'3" tall, Mr. Pyle was a big man with a big, compassionate heart who put his whole being into everything he did. He is survived by his beloved wife of 40 years, Suzanne Kloster Pyle, three children and two grandchildren: his son, Michael Pyle, married to Mayuko of California, and his twin daughters, Angela, married to Dwight Mullis, of Charlotte, NC, their sons Aiden, age 19 months, and Easton, age 2 weeks; and Kathleen Pyle of California. His brothers are David Pyle from California, Gary Pyle from Pennsylvania and Jeffry Pyle from California. He also had two stepbrothers, Fred and Timothy Hackett, and two stepsisters, Elizabeth Hackett and Catherine Hackett Welch. He was preceded in death by his parents, Louis Pyle and Frances Hackett, and one brother, Ernie Pyle.

Mr. Pyle was 1972 graduate of Ambassador College in Pasadena, California. He worked for the college and the Worldwide Church of God until 1995 in various capacities over the years in Transportation, Mail Processing, and in the Media/Circulation Departments. 

In the years following, he became a part of the Living Church of God as Media Coordinator. Mr. Pyle came to North Carolina with the Living Church of God in 2002 to serve God's Work and God's people. As a long-time deacon, his devotion to his duties was legendary. If there was a job to be done he was there to do it until his failing health made it impossible for him carry on. 

He had many interests which he pursued with his usual passion. His lifelong love of mountaineering brought him national recognition as an expert on the mountains of North America, but none of his interests were more important to him than his family and his church brethren. 

The family deeply appreciates the over whelming expressions of concern and condolences from so many people around the world and the loving, heartfelt care Mr. Pyle received. Visitation for family and friends will be held on Tuesday from 6-8 PM at Heritage Funeral Home, Weddington Chapel, 3700 Forest Lawn Drive, Matthews, NC 28104. Funeral services will be held at 11AM Wednesday in the funeral home Chapel. The family will have a reception immediately following the service at the funeral home. An online guestbook is available at www.heritagefuneral.net.