Key Bridge victim Miguel Luna remembered at memorial services: ‘A heart of gold’
For weeks, Maria del Carmen Castellon had prayed for this very miracle, she told the crowd assembled Friday night in Baltimore.
She had prayed that her whole family, and all of their friends, could gather to say goodbye to her husband, Miguel Luna, who lost his life alongside five other construction workers from Brawner Builders when Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed March 26.
“In my heart there is gratitude, but there is also pain,” she said in Spanish during a wake service for Luna.
“I give thanks to God because I asked for a miracle — and he conceded it to me.”It was a long road. For 36 painful days after the bridge collapse, Luna’s family waited. They attended a memorial soccer tournament held in Luna’s honor. They sold homemade pupusas to raise money for a future without their dear husband, father and grandfather.
On May 1, he was finally found. And on Friday night, his memorial services began. Mourners in black and white filled the Iglesia Emmanuel Church in Baltimore’s Hawkins Point for a full night of prayer and song. As midnight neared, they paused to share tamales and cocoa and then continued worshipping into the morning.
After a final reading from the Bible in the church Saturday morning, Luna’s bright white casket traveled by hearse past the colorful mural with six crosses built to honor the bridge victims, and to Glen Haven Memorial Park in Glen Burnie, where he was laid to rest.
“We are having a victory today,” Luna’s stepdaughter, Ester Perez, told mourners in Spanish as the burial neared. “You might not see it, but we are having a victory.
As the group gathered around Luna’s casket, classical guitars accompanied the mourners in song. After she thanked the crowd, Castellon took to the microphone and sang, with one hand pointing skyward.
“Estoy feliz que estoy con mi Cristo,” she sang, as the guitarists strummed. “I am happy that I am with my Lord.”
Miguel Angél Luna, who was born in the Usultán department of El Salvador but emigrated to the United States in 2004 in search of a better life, would have turned 50 next month, according to an online obituary. He left behind his wife, five children, two stepdaughters, a sister and seven grandchildren, according to the webpage.
Luna, who lived in Glen Burnie, loved helping his wife with the food truck business they established together, and loved cooking for his children, according to the obituary. He also adored soccer, and had purchased tickets to watch Real Madrid and Barcelona play in New Jersey in August.
“Miguel was a family man and always advised his children to be the best, to improve themselves, to go to church and follow Jesus,” the obituary read. “His kind spirit and strong working hands will be greatly missed by many, especially his family.”
Before Friday night’s service, a slideshow of photos played as a gentle piano song filled the sanctuary: Miguel and Carmen posing on a boat, smiling before a bright blue sky; Miguel and his family in matching Christmas pajamas and Santa hats; Miguel and Carmen on their wedding day seven years ago — embracing joyfully.
One of the pictures showed a handwritten note: “Sabes que te amo mi amor,” it said, encircled by a heart: “You know I love you, my love.”
Jack Murphy, owner of Brawner Builders, said Friday night that Luna was an “irreplaceable” spirit, who stood out in his 13 years at Brawner because he had the best attitude.
“He had a heart of gold,” Murphy said. “The Miguel I knew was always smiling.”
Luna’s work was also incredible, Murphy said.
“Miguel was a welder by craft, but he was actually an artist,” Murphy said.
Luna represented all of the immigrant workers who continue to build the United States, and he will live on in their hearts, said Pedro Antonio Rodriguez, consul general at the El Salvadoran consulate in Silver Spring.
“Miguel is a hero,” Rodriguez said in Spanish. “He is a hero like all of you who work two or three jobs, who wake up at 5 a.m. and continue, and continue.”
Rodriguez presented Luna’s family with a ceremonial Salvadoran flag, and Maryland officials bestowed a state flag that waved above the State House in Annapolis while at half-staff for Luna and his five crewmates.
As Friday night’s service drew to a close, Pastor Samuel Portillo asked the Luna and Castellon families to gather around the pearly white casket in prayer. The group was so large that it filled the front of the sanctuary, at least 50 people strong.
And at the front was Carmen, standing beside the floral wreaths and a portrait of her dear Miguel in a suit and bright red tie.
“I know a lot of people have prayed for us, and for the five families that also have suffered a loss,” she said. “I give thanks to God, because in the middle of this process, He has me standing.”
Luna had a way of making everyone feel valued at Brawner, Murphy said. The whole company is still “reeling” from the incredible loss of Luna and his five crewmates, he said.
“Miguel was a great soccer player, and he brought those skills to work,” Murphy said. “He was a team player for Brawner for 13 years.”
His wife and his children were always “first in his mind,” Murphy said, and he fought to secure a better life for them.
“He had so much left,” Murphy said.
During Friday night’s service, as musicians strummed on their nylon-stringed guitars, a police officer came down the aisle.
It was Sgt. Paul Pastorek, one of the Maryland Transportation Authority officers who had been on the bridge that night, who blocked the bridge to traffic — saving lives — but whose heroic effort could not spare the construction crew atop the span.
He embraced Castellon and spoke to her as music filled the sanctuary.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
After they parted, she patted the chair beside her, which was briefly empty, and Pastorek sat beside her.
And for a time, they sat with each other — two people linked by tragedy, listening together.