 Mark Barry Metherell was 39 Presbyterian Lay Committee director's son killed by roadside bomb in Iraq The Layman Online Tuesday, April 15, 2008 A roadside bomb in Iraq has claimed the life of a California man who is the son of a member of the Presbyterian Lay Committee's board of directors.
Metherell was a U.S. military contractor working on training efforts with Iraqi forces, his father-in-law, Peter Ochs, told The Orange County Register. He was a former Navy SEAL who would work about two months at a time in Iraq, spending time at home with his wife and family between assignments, Ochs said. "He was a wonderful, godly guy and a loving husband," Ochs told the Register. "He was a gentleman in every respect." Metherell and his wife, Sarah, would have celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary in May, the Register reported. They adopted a 1-year-old girl, Cora, about a year ago. Metherell's neighbors staged an impromptu vigil in front of the couple's home Friday night after learning of his death. They placed candles, flowers, flags and signs, the Register reported. "This has sent a shock wave through the community," said Clarke Brogger, who grew up with Metherell's widow. "The street was packed with people who knew him, and that speaks about what an amazing person he was. … He was really inspiring to a lot of people. I'm super glad to have known him as long as I did." "I'm so sorry this happened," Harry Clurman, another neighbor, told the Register. "He was always in harm's way." Metherell is the son of Pam Metherell, also of Laguna Beach and a member of the Presbyterian Lay Committee's board of directors since 2001. In a 2002 profile in The Layman, she told how her son's birth set off a chain of events that changed the lives of her and her husband, Alex. They wanted to have Mark baptized and began a search in the phone book for a minister to conduct the service. The pastor of the first church they chose – a liberal congregation – declined. The pastor of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church – an evangelical congregation – accepted. That set both Metherells and their family on the path along which Christ became the center of their lives. First, Alex heard a Bible teacher at St. Andrews describe the way Jesus had fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. "That night, my husband accepted the Lord and became a Jesus freak," she said with a laugh. A year later, she was attending a Bible study in which the leader focused on original sin. Pointing to a baby in the audience, the speaker said, "If that baby needs Jesus, what about you?" Realizing that she had committed many more sins than the baby, Pam Metherell accepted Christ as her savior. The moment is etched in her memory, like a stone marking Israel's deliverance from slavery. "That baby grew up and married my son, Mark," she said. Pam and Alex Metherell have two other children: Alison Metherell, a pediatrician, and Caroline Campbell, a teacher. Pam and Alex have served as elders of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, and both have sung in the choir. For more than 20 years, she has served in leadership in Bible Study Fellowship. Dr. Alexander "Alex" F. Metherell is an expert on the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Constitution, a co-inventor of the field of acoustical holographic imaging and the author of more than 70 technical papers and reports. In 2004, The Layman published his review of the Mel Gibson movie "The Passion of the Christ" that offered a detailed biomedical perspective of the Crucifixion. In addition to his wife, daughter, parents, sisters and father-in-law, Mark Barry Metherell is also survived by his mother-in-law, Gail Ochs; and three sisters-in-law, Kristi Young, Tori Cloud and Abigail Frederick. Friends of Mark Metherell have created a tribute Web site at http://www.markmetherell.com. |
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