Nikki and family, we had planned on attending today but just got word of an emergency and we need to be there for someone.  Nathan was truly beloved to us and we feel awful that we can't be there.  Please receive our love and may Jesus bless you and console your loss.

Aunt Nez and family, due to work conflict, I will not be able to attend. Please know I will be thinking of you all. 

Nathan and I met in high school and became fast friends. He was ALWAYS the upbeat guy with something nice to say. Honestly one of the kindest people I’ve ever known. That was clearly learned from his loving family who graciously took me in, in our senior year of high school. My family was relocating, I was about to have to change high schools in the middle of my senior year, I was devastated . . Nate’s family treated me like one of their own. I gained an additional brother, sister, mother and father that year.  From that time forward Nathan always referred to me as “sis”.  I was his sister from another mister, he used to say. We remained close all these years. My life was blessed for having known him. I love you, brother and will miss our lengthy conversations and your ever positive attitude and loving soul. We will be reunited again someday. I’ll look forward to a big bear hug. You gave the best hugs!

Even though we attended HS together, our Senior year, by the lockers at the bottom of the football field at LSHS I saw Nate & said " Hi Nate!" In his casual , cool, confident, but laid-back way he said " Hey Maria!", nodding his head up & down. That was the first time we got to talk one-on-one, even though he played BB & I was a V Yell Leader at the games! I saw him after graduation in the mid 90's and was so glad to see him!!! After that, we kept in touch as he sold RE. He came to visit me in LA and we went to Crustacean, a restaurant in Los Angeles w/ a fish aquarium in the floor. He drove his black truck. in 2010, I needed a Realtor to assist one of my Buyers approved to buy a property. I thought about Nate & gave him a call. He found a perfect house for this couple, moving from Compton to a hillside property.  One time, I took him out in OC to cheer him up & we danced to "LOW by Flo Rida & I would hear that song & thing of him! Just recently, he left a message for me on Valentines Day, wishing me a Happy V Day! He was in great spirits that day, he had just sold another house! I was so glad to hear him so happy! I have the message saved in my messages... Love you Nathan, see you in Heaven!

I first met Nate around 1966, when he was 2 and I  was 3, give or take.  Our families attended the same church and Nate was brought over for what we now call a "play date," quite against my wishes.  Despite my shyness, we soon found ourselves engrossed in  Legos and Hot wheels and by the end of the day, we were best friends.  We were really more like siblings, as our families took summer vacations together and we basically shared 2 sets of parents.  Our first trips to Disneyland was together, getting our names stitched on matching sailor hats.  When his family moved to their Mollyknoll house, we played for hours building forts and tunnels in a huge lantana shrub on a backyard hillside.  The smell of lantana still evokes the feeling of those simple days and I never pass one without plucking off a leave and inhaling the memories.  We also would play for hours in  his sand pit, digging elaborate "river" systems and wasting untold gallons of water testing and improving our creations. We remained close through college years, but life, as it does, put some space between us as we had kids, jobs, responsibilities.  We still kept in touch, and he even helped us sell my parents' Whittier home a few years ago - the same home where we first met almost 60 years ago. 

• Nate, obsessed with the TV  show Wild, Wild West, always dressed in  western wear with gadgets (paper clips, mostly) hidden in his sleeves.
• Nate learning how to play the banjo, which was not at all cool back then
• Sleepovers where Merrill invariably ended up separating us so the family could get some sleep
• Vacations in Carpinteria, Big Bear, Newport - usually a week on the beach - heaven! 
• Sunday afternoons in Newport, Original Pizza or TK Burgers and a walk on the pier
• Code words for everything, which surely fooled nobody
• Both of us driving Torinos in high school - mine was faster, but he drove his like a maniac
• Walking towards me in the school parking lot and hollering "are you going to ask ***** out?!" not knowing that she was walking right behind him (no, I didn't). 
• The Flock of Seagulls haircut in high school and dressing up as Frankfurter.  Bold choices

I met Nate at the habit burger grill in 2015. I was sitting next to him and his friend and, Nate being the outgoing friendly man he was, started talking to me. He gave me his business card and we became friends. I would share about books I had read on personal development and I’d learn from him. We would talk about Jesus Christ and church and how much he loved being a grandpa! You are an amazing man, I’m so grateful I met you, Nate! 

Nathan and I shared several CV4W trips. I was on that Red Cloud run where he deflated that tire! We didn't know each other for a long time but the short time we did we became really good friends. May you rest in peace my friend!

The death of any friend is sad, but the passing of someone who is part of so many childhood memories brings with it a different kind of grief.

I’ve known Nate since we were at Murphy Ranch Elementary. We were always some of the taller kids so we sort of gravitated towards each other. He would come to my house and I would go to his on Mollyknoll Ave to play. He and I took swim lessons together. We played basketball together at La Serna; I remember when he had the game-winning tip-in and was mobbed by the team.

We reconnected on Facebook and I enjoyed his sense of humor via this virtual medium.

RIP, Nate. Sincere condolences to your family and friends.