4th Funeral in a Season of Mourning

SANTA ANA — In contrast to joy of the holidays, several hundred Caltrans employees spent part of this week going from funeral to funeral as they mourned and remembered their fallen colleagues.

On Wednesday, they went to Waverly Chapel in Santa Ana to say goodbye to Hal Bierlein, 51, a maintenance yard supervisor who was the last of four victims of a Dec. 18 shooting rampage to be buried.

Bierlein, who was killed as he sat in his parked Volkswagen at the Caltrans yard in Orange, had apparently been the main target of gunman Arturo Reyes Torres, 41. Bierlein had fired Torres earlier this year.

After killing his former boss, Torres went on to spray a work trailer with more than 300 bullets, killing three other employees. He was then shot dead by police.

Memorial services for slain workers Michael J. Kelley and Wayne A. Bowers were Tuesday. Paul E. White was buried Monday.

Like those services, Bierlein’s memorial drew an overflow crowd. Mourners, some of whom wore bright-orange Caltrans vests or work shirts, filled the chapel and spilled out to the sidewalk.

Several wiped away tears as they looked at photographs of a smiling, bespectacled Bierlein, whose face has become familiar in news reports of the killings. But most appeared too spent from three days of grieving to do more than cluster in small, quiet groups.

Among them was Steve Howsman, who worked with Bierlein 10 years ago in the Commerce maintenance yard and learned of his death through news reports. Like many of the Caltrans workers, who came from across Southern California, Howsman was attending his fourth funeral in three days.

“It can be a dangerous job--you’re out there in traffic all day--so I guess that brings us closer together,” he said. “We’ve lost a lot of people on the highway. You come to expect that. But no one ever thought we’d have to deal with something like this. It’s definitely been a sad week for Caltrans.”

During the service, Bierlein was remembered as a spiritual man who loved his family and doted on his sons.

“He was a gentle man,” said the Rev. Ron Wilkins, pastor of Calvary Chapel, which Bierlein attended for the past eight years.

“He and his wife, Melanie, loved serving in the nursery and Sunday school. In fact, I remember the Sunday before he was killed, Hal had a little cold, and he said he’d better stay away from the nursery because he didn’t want the children to get sick,” Wilkins said.

In a 30-minute eulogy, Wilkins spoke of Bierlein’s born-again Christianity and of the power of prayer to comfort and heal.

“Some have questioned why God would allow this horrible tragedy,” Wilkins said in his only direct reference to Bierlein’s violent death.

“Yes, it is a tragedy that Hal’s life was cut short by murder. We all know that God hates the anger man has in his heart for others. But our God is a God of mercy, and we pray that our hearts not be hardened by this.”

Family friend Cheryl Koops said Bierlein’s family was “devastated by the enormous loss, especially coming at Christmas. But then, is there ever a good time for something like this to happen?”

Koops said some family members were disturbed by inferences in news reports that Bierlein may have treated Torres harshly or unfairly, setting off the chain of events that ended in the deaths of five men.

“He was a good man and very well loved, not just by his family but by everyone who knew him,” Koops said. “Just look at this turnout--it’s incredible. That alone should tell you he was a man of integrity.”