Residents Urged to Line Streets to Welcome Ruiz Home

Family and friends of a Marine veteran from Menifee killed in a plane crash in Afghanistan are urging Menifee residents to line the streets of Ethanac Road and Encanto Drive Saturday morning as a procession brings Chris Ruiz home.

Ruiz and 11 others died when a military transport plane crashed in Afghanistan Oct. 2. Ruiz, a former Marine, was working as a civilian contractor at the time. He is survived by his wife Lorelyn and three children under age 6.

Members of a Facebook group created to support the family are organizing Saturday's event, in which they urge residents to carry flags and line the streets from the Ethanac Road off-ramp of southbound Interstate 215 east to Encanto Drive and south to Evans-Brown Mortuary (see map below), where the body will be held until a funeral mass on Oct. 19. The procession is scheduled to leave Ontario Airport at 9:30 a.m. and is expected to exit the freeway at Ethanac Road sometime between 10 and 10:30 a.m.

According to a Chris Ruiz Facebook tribute page, police and fire personnel will be stationed on the overpasses at Nuevo Road, Highway 74 and Ethanac on the procession's approach to the mortuary.

A similar welcome party for fallen Marine Sgt. Eric Seaman in Murrieta June 10 attracted thousands of people carrying flags and standing in silent tribute.

Map shows the route the procession will take from Interstate 215 to Evans-Brown Mortuary. Residents are urged to line the streets in tribute.

A memorial hike in Ruiz's memory will begin at 7 a.m. Sunday. Take Antelope Road south from McCall Boulevard and proceed to the end of Antelope at the top of the hill (see map below). A hike of 2.5 miles round trip will take about an hour and will proceed to the cross at the top of the mountain.

This hike is being organized by the group Moms Run This Town. Participants are urged to carry a flag and wear a black ribbon (provided by the organizers) in tribute to Ruiz's life and service to his country.

A gofundme page is accepting donations for the family here. According to a Facebook post by Lorelyn Ruiz, visitation and rosary will be held Oct. 18 from 5-9 p.m. at Evans-Brown Mortuary, 27010 Encanto Drive in the Sun City community of Menifee. A funeral mass will be held Oct. 19 at a.m. at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, 27931 Murrieta Road. Burial will take place at 2 p.m. that day at Riverside National Cemetery.

The hike will begin at the end of Antelope Road and head uphill toward the cross.