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# Hundreds say good-bye to Lopez
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/hundreds-say-good-bye-to-lopez/
- Published: 2006-03-13T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T17:21:08.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: Community, Pico, #archive-import

*Loved ones remember a life of laughter*

ST. MONICA CHURCH — Her words were brief, but her message powerful, seeming to mirror the strength she has shown during what has surely been Arminda Lopez’s darkest hours.

Standing here before hundreds who came to celebrate the life of her son, 15-year-old Eduardo “Eddie” Lopez, she held back her tears long enough to look out onto the crowd and say, “Thank you to everyone for your love and support. Mothers, take care of your sons. Please take care of them.”

And with that, the grief-stricken Lopez quietly descended from the podium at St. Monica Church, walked past a poster of her son filled with pictures of better days, and joined her family seated just feet away from the casket where her son lay.

While the weeping of loved ones echoed throughout the cavernous sanctuary, Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson reminded those in grief that it wasn’t a time to mourn, but rather a day to reflect on the joy brought to so many lives by Lopez, who was devoted to his family and was a star athlete at Santa Monica High School. He was gunned down by a suspected gang member on Feb. 28 while hanging out with two friends at the corner of 26th Street and Pico Boulevard.

With strangers from all walks of life standing together, hand in hand, Torgerson called on the need to preserve Lopez’s memory by eradicating division and violence at Santa Monica High School, and throughout Santa Monica and the world.

“We need to let go of whatever it is that divides and causes pain in the lives of other people,” Torgerson said. “Let it go. Look at each other today in this horrible moment and say ‘I’m willing to give it up.’ If we do, Eddie will live.”

For Samohi baseball coach Timothy Dearn, Lopez, a captain on the freshmen/sophomore team, will forever be a part of his life and the lives of those who follow in Lopez’s footsteps.

“When I look at the new kids who join the team, I’ll tell them they better treat that jersey with respect and wear it with pride,” said Dearn, who remembers Lopez was always willing to lend a hand to a teammate in need. “Eddie’s spirit will never leave us. We will always have one more teammate by our side.”

Following the service, family and friends united at the Samohi cafeteria for a reception, at which time the tears seemed to fade and were replaced by laughter as loved ones ate food brought by friends. They shared stories about the apt comedian, who could make just about anyone smile with the simple wink of an eye. Many recalled how Lopez would lift the spirits of those around him, and it seemed only right that even in death, he could do just that.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/031306-02_01.jpg)

Arminda Lopez speaks to hundreds of people who attended the funeral of her 15-year-old son, Eddie, on Saturday at St. (Photo: Fabian Lewkowicz/Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 13, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/031306.pdf?ref=smdp.com)