Aug. 23, 2010 issue
Family, friends remember slain MCC Afghanistan worker
By Jane Holahan Lancaster Intelligencer Journal and Lancaster New EraLANCASTER, Pa. — Glen Lapp led an abundant life, his friends and family all agreed during a memorial service Aug. 15.
Glen Lapp’s sister-in-law, Mary Ellen Francescani, speaks during the memorial service, while flanked by Lapp’s brothers, Jerry Lapp, left, and Ernie Lapp. — Photo by Richard Hertzler/Lancaster Newspapers
He had a kind heart, they said, a seriousness of purpose, a deep desire to do good and help those the world had forgotten. But he also knew how to enjoy life, laugh, play bluegrass music with friends and ride his bike across the country with his cousin.
“We ate peanut butter sandwiches with brown sugar and lived like kings; it was glorious,” Joe Lapp recalled as he spoke about that 2002 bike trip. “And we laughed a lot. Laughter with Glen came so easily.”
That abundant life was cut short Aug. 5 when Lapp, 40, a Mennonite Central Committee volunteer, and nine other aid workers were killed in Afghanistan.
The Taliban have said they are responsible for the killings.
About 900 people filled the church on a rainy afternoon. They were led by Lapp’s parents, Marvin and Mary Lapp, his brothers, Ernie and Jerry, and his two nieces and nephew.
While there was plenty of grief and tears during the service, held in the large sanctuary of Bright Side Baptist Church, the family wanted everyone to celebrate Glen Lapp’s life.
“Glen packed more into 40 years than most people pack into a lifetime,” his sister-in-law, Mary Ellen Francescani, said in an interview before the service.
“People said over and over to us — and I can’t emphasize it strongly enough — that he had a heart that was so extensive and kind. He touched so many lives. He left such a legacy.”
Her brother-in-law was incapable of being superficial, she said.
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