Born November 4, 1980 at East Moreland Hospital in Portland, OR, Kenji Voutrin Loy arrived at 7:47 AM weighing 8 lbs. 7 oz. to Mary Kikue Hirata Loy and Richard Luciano Martinez Loy.
Living all of his life in Portland, Kenji attended St. Stevens School, Brooklyn Elementary, Sellwood Middle School, Cleveland High School and received his diploma from Quest.
Kenji's love of sports included participating in baseball and making the all~star team twice. He enjoyed playing basketball, football and took 2nd place in the city for his weight class in wrestling his freshman year at Cleveland.
Kenji lived life to the fullest and enjoyed surrounding himself with family and friends. Kenji loved his 1977 Monte Carlo and enjoyed working on restoring it. He also enjoyed music, the outdoors, hunting and working out at the gym. Kenji was a hard worker and always gave 100%.
Kenji had great pride in his Catholic faith and his heritage and is a proud member of the Mary's River Kalapuya band of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
Dearest Mary,
There is nothing I can say to ease the pain you are feeling over your loss except to encourage you to look to your spirit and the memories you have of Kenji.
A child is supposed to live a long life and care for their parents, that is how it has always been. When the Creator chooses to take them early we have so many unanswered questions and feel so very alone in our quest for answers.
Young men are like young eagles--searching the skies and looking ever upward. Perhaps the Creator needs some of them as guides in order for the old ones to find their way. These young men are very special and have knowledge we can only imagine; bringing peace to others as they travel the unknown roads, showing them there is nothing to fear in the journey.
Think of
every day
every challenge
every triumph and indeed...
every defeat as
feathers on your wings
Then, one day,
the sum
of all your wisdom
will let you fly
where only Eagles dare!
Please know your son will always be with you, finding comfort and being able to rejoice that he was a chosen one. As you walk this road without his physical presence, know he is in the surrounding skies--looking downward on those still here, waiting for the time he can guide them upward--into the arms of the Creator, the ultimate peaceful existence.
You are in my prayers,
Cora
An Indian Prayer
Oh Great Spirit, whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me!
I am small and weak, I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand the things that you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,
but to fight my greatest enemy--myself.
Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading of the sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.
Dear Mary, Richard, Richard and Grand Ronde,
I am writing this now in hopes that you will be able to read this now and then and see what others have seen in your son and brother.
I remember Mary when you told me one time that having a house full of your sons' friends was worth feeding and cleaning up after them because it was only going to be a short time until they have their own lives and then you would just have the memories. Well, it is these words that I live by now, with a house full of my children's friends all the time, feeding and cleaning up after them, a family value I saw in your home. And yes, I do have the good memories too that you talked about, and I will also cherish the memories of your home and how you all made me feel welcome and the memory of Kenji.
When we did fundraisers for NAYA, I was amazed at Kenji's maturity, he could have been sleeping in late or doing something else with his Saturday evening, but every time the team was needed, he was there with his friends early in the morning setting up and when the event was over, he helped tear down. This was hard work, but he was always capable of doing a man's job and proved this often.
I was so amazed to see how his teammates respected him, he would help his dad organize everyone and give out orders that all followed until the task was complete. he was a leader among his peers.
Kenji had a charismatic personality, he was able to hold a conversation with anyone, he had an infectious laugh and good looks. I always enjoyed talking with him when I had to call your house for some NAYA business, if I asked him how he was doing, he would tell me something that was going on in his life.
It's not right that parents should bury a child; I always pictured seeing all the boys from the NAYA team years from now with their own families, that's the way it should be. Nothing I say will ease the pain and heartache you are going through right now, but I wanted you to know that I will always remember the respect Kenji showed me, and he will be missed.
There is nothing I can say to ease the pain you are feeling over your loss except to encourage you to look to your spirit and the memories you have of Kenji.
