Military pallbearers carry a coffin with the body of Lt. Col. James L. Wiley Jr. from a charter aircraft to a waiting hearse Friday afternoon, in North Bend. Wiley was with the U.S. Army and was killed last week in Afghanistan. Family members gathered at the Southwestern Oregon Regional Airport for a short ceremony with prayers from The Rev. Karl Schray on the tarmac. World Photo by Lou Sennick

NORTH BEND �” As the Lord’s Prayer reverberated through Holy Redeemer Catholic Church during the Mass of Christian burial for Lt. Col. James L. Wiley Jr. on Friday afternoon, his mom, Ruth Wiley, stood in the front pew.

At first, she held the hands of those around her. Then, perhaps, she remembered the times when she recited “Our Father, who art in Heaven ...” with her hand in the tender hold of her son’s.

With the casket close by, she took a hesitant step, then another. She raised an outstretched arm and slowly caressed the white pall that had replaced the Stars and Stripes on top of the coffin upon entering the chapel.

It was her chance to share the ceremony one last time with James, and she took it.

Lt. Col. Wiley died in Afghanistan on Sept. 18 at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. His remains arrived by charter aircraft at the airport in North Bend just hours before the Mass of Christian burial at Holy Redeemer. Family members gathered on the tarmac and stood for a short ceremony with prayers from The Rev. Karl Schray. Patriot Guard motorcycle riders, Coos Bay and North Bend police and six local fire departments then led the hearse carrying Wiley a procession through town.

At the church, about 160 people gathered with the family for the service. Rev. Schray mentioned the flag switch, noting that at once, Wiley was a member of the church as well as his country. During his homily, Schray made reference to Matthew 11:30, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

“James was yoked to the Army, and to the United States and to us, especially his family,” he said.

He spoke about a conversation he had with a woman who remembered Wiley when he was a boy bagging groceries at a local store.

“She said he was a very good bag boy,” Schray recalled. “You are never too young to make a good impression.”

Schray said Wiley continued to make a good impression with his neighbors. The 1979 North Bend High School graduate was guided by love, which was what led him to give thousands of hats to Afghani children before his death last week while serving his country.

“He gave them his love and so many hats and his smiles,” Schray said.

The ceremony included sprinkling the casket with holy water and incense, as well as communion.

At the very end, Ruth Wiley rose to the lectern, where she read a story. Afterward she explained that when her son spoke with someone, he often ended with a story so his visitor would remember the meeting.

The story she shared was about a water bug colony at the bottom of a pond that watches its members climb a lily stalk and disappear. One bug vows to return, only to find that upon rising to the top of the stalk, it emerges on the lily pad and is a dragonfly, unable to return below. It realizes it must wait for the other water bugs to join it.

“I think that would be Jim’s message to you,” she said.