Honoring the Legacy of Others

当有机会给新建的房间命名时 Borland-Manske Center, retired Los Angeles City firefighter Mark Howell and his wife Lauri chose to honor numerous people who contributed to their faith and love of music.

路德教会的教育极大地丰富了我的生活, 所以我们感到很荣幸能够这样做,” says Lauri. “We are ordinary people God has blessed — we didn’t start a company and we’re not mega-wealthy — but as we come into our older years we have some money to do some wonderful things. It’s strictly God’s doing.”

Lauri’s grandfather, a Lutheran minister, immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1904. 劳里和她的两个兄弟一生都在路德教会学校上学. 

“I have been very, 深受路德教教育的祝福，对路德教会充满热情,” Lauri says. “路德教会的教育是我生命中最重要的方面之一.” 

She credits Lutheran High School in Los Angeles especially for her passion for Christian education. 

“It was exceptional,” she says. “Those were the happiest times with the finest people and has really contributed to my faith. 我仍然和我二年级的老师说话. 我还和学校里的几位老师保持着联系.” 

其中一位老师是艺术家杰拉尔德·布罗默, Lauri’s art teacher and academic advisor when she served as editor of the high school yearbook. 

Lutheran education enriched my life beyond measure, 所以我们感到很荣幸能够这样做.

“我一直和杰拉尔德保持联系，直到他11月去世，”劳里说. “我把他当作朋友，就像许多上路德高中的人一样.” 

马克出生并成长在洛杉矶的一个消防员家庭, 并跟随父亲的脚步，成为一名城市消防员，职业生涯长达38年. 马克在中南部的一个消防站当工程师, 然后在洛杉矶的一艘救火船上呆了22年.A. Harbor station. 

“We responded to lot of industrial accidents because the equipment is so big and there are thousands of trucks, trains and ships coming in and out,” he says. “港口不会发生那么多火灾, 但你做了很多物理救援, drownings, 卡车意外驶进码头.” 

The harbor fire station — built on the water with an attached boat house — hosts a 76-foot fire boat which can pump 12,000 gallons of water per minute, 远远超过了一辆普通消防车的能力. 

Still, for sheer excitement, Mark enjoyed the assignment in South Central where he responded to many building fires, 参与了“很多拯救生命的行动”, and delivered three babies, one in the back of a taxi cab." 

马克说，要成为一名成功的消防员，你需要的不仅仅是身体健康. 

“There are times when you’re confronted with something where there’s no supervision and you have to make a decision fast,” he says. “你不能等着别人给你下命令. 你必须自我激励、自律，并在两者之间取得平衡. You adapt at the moment and invent ways of doing something like getting someone down a ladder or out of a room.” 

One incident — a gasoline explosion at close range — could have taken his life within months of marrying Lauri. 他和他的一个伙伴在扑灭一场车库火灾时，那里储存的汽油爆炸了.

“The fireball was huge and I could see it coming at me from ten feet away,” Mark recalls. “There’s nothing you can do. 我们试图倒地，但你被抓住了. 当爆炸离你那么近的时候，你是逃不掉的.”

那时的防护装备要原始得多, 马克脸上暴露的部分被二级烧伤, wrists and ankles; but he was otherwise unharmed. Surprisingly, Lauri — who was just 21 years old — wasn’t shaken when she got the 3 a.m. 消防队长敲门，告诉他马克受伤的消息.

“We had been married three months, and it made me feel like, yes, he could die at any minute, 但我从中获得了力量，而不是变得害怕,” she says.

Facing the risk of his profession at such a young age forced her to make peace with what could happen, 这在他的职业生涯中对她很有帮助, she says.

It was in 1997, when Lauri’s mother passed away, that she found herself shaken and sensing a need to reconnect with her faith after some years away from church.

“I felt there was something missing in my life and I started going back to church,” she says. “I was really hungry to reconnect.”

At first, she watched Christian television and listened to Christian radio programs when Mark wasn’t there. 后来，她开始在他值班的时候去教堂做礼拜.

“我有点尴尬，”她承认. “说实话，我真的不知道我身上发生了什么. One day I told Mark, "你上班的时候我要去教堂,’他说他想去，这让我很吃惊, too. 这成了我们寻找教堂的旅程.他们一起开始拜访当地的教会.

“I said, ‘I am going to every Lutheran church within a half hour of us,’” Lauri says with a laugh. “重新发现我的路德神学是一次奇妙的拓宽. 作为一个成年人，它有了更大的意义. 我非常非常渴望听到上帝的话语.”

She also developed what she calls “Lutheran radar” as a result of running into an inexplicable number of Lutheran friends in that time period. “I would run into someone I went to school with, or someone who knew somebody,” she says. “是上帝把我放在这些位置上的.” 

在他们参观的一个教堂里，劳里听到一个熟悉的声音. Rod Rosenbladt, who she recognized from the White Horse Inn radio program of which she had become a regular listener. 在同一座教堂里，豪厄尔夫妇遇到了许多CUI的教员, staff and students and began attending Christmas concerts on campus and concerts throughout the year. 

“马克和我都非常喜欢古典音乐和合唱, and Concordia does it brilliantly,” she says. “We were so excited. 我们想，世界一流的音乐就在我们家门口.”

They also participated in CUI’s Gala of Stars, donating and bidding on items. 随着时间的推移，他们觉得自己是CUI社区的一部分. 

“It was the quality of people, such integrity, such solid Christians,” Lauri says. “他们对自己做的每件事都有很高的标准. The way they present themselves, the kindness, the thoroughness, the high quality.” 

Mark and I are very fond of classical music and choral music, and Concordia does it brilliantly.

The Howells were eager to support the Borland-Manske Center as it greatly improved and expanded Concordia’s facilities for music and theology programs.

“我们很高兴能成为BMC的一部分，”劳里说. “Attending a public college, 我看到了基督教教育和公共教育之间的巨大差异. My eyes were opened to the value of being taught from a Christ-centered worldview. It’s a big, big difference.” 

豪厄尔夫妇选择用劳里儿时的钢琴老师的名字来命名一个房间, an old German immigrant who took Lauri to concerts and instilled in her a love for fine music. 

“Having that connection with classical music is one of the best parts of my life,” Lauri says. “我看到了一个练习钢琴的工作室，就想，‘我想让Mrs. Exner’s name on this.“她有很多像我一样爱她的学生.另一间以她父母名字命名的音乐室, 他们还支持了基督学院翼楼的两个房间, 以劳里的祖父和他在神学院最好的朋友的名字命名, Henry Schmitt, 他在洛杉矶创立了路德教会, including St. 保罗在北好莱坞的第一间路德教会. Gerald Brommer was a member of St. Paul’s for more than forty years. 

“我思考谁对我来说是重要的，谁丰富了我的生活, 有些人突然出现在我的脑海里，我们想向他们致敬,” Lauri says.

Today, Mark is an active volunteer at two fire station museums, in Hollywood and San Pedro. 他创造了一个迷人的陈列柜，展示旧潜水装备等物品, fire nozzles, rescue gear and more — much of it donated from his extensive private collection of antique fire equipment. 博物馆拥有两辆1923年的消防车，有漂亮的黄铜和金色的叶子, 这两件事都有可能引发火灾, though they mostly travel in parades. 好莱坞博物馆有一个马拉的蒸笼和蒸汽泵. “它们看起来就像50或80年前的车站，”马克说. 

At the harbor location, Mark and a team are restoring a 100-foot-long fire-boat from 1925. 他们也会带很多来自养老院的孩子和团体来参观. 

“The kids really love it,” Mark says. “当他们出现时，他们真的疯了，因为到处都是火. We are all volunteer retired firemen who love the job, and this is a way to contribute.” 

我思考谁对我来说是重要的，谁丰富了我的生活, 有些人突然出现在我的脑海里，我们想向他们致敬.

豪厄尔夫妇将私人博物馆之旅捐赠给 CUI’s Gala of Stars. Jon Howard ’04, associate director of development, 说康科迪亚很感谢豪厄尔夫妇在晚会上的合作, and in making the Borland-Manske Center happen. 

“马克和劳里·豪厄尔对路德教会的事工有着一颗不可思议的心. They see the importance of music and ministry to a growing University,” Howard says. “They have designated a vast majority of their estate to support several Lutheran organizations. I’m honored that Concordia Irvine is one of them and excited to welcome them as the newest members of our Great Commission Society. They want to make sure that their gifts continue to benefit students for a long time.” 

The Howells, who now attend Light of Christ Lutheran Church in Irvine and continue to enjoy operas and live music by Beethoven, Verdi and other favorite composers, say they consider it “such an incredible honor to be involved in this way and pass on a Lutheran legacy. It’s not our legacy but a legacy of Lutherans and those people who have gone before us.”