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Read about Board Member Ron Lauzon. Thank you to Nan Collett for putting this interview together.
Welcome to Ron Lauzon, Team Captain of Buildings and Grounds. We are so pleased he has agreed to take on this task, and we look forward to working with him. In case you haven’t had a chance to talk with Ron here’s a little bit about him, Will and Dylan.
Ron grew up in Ontario, Canada. He enjoyed running and art when he was growing up. He has always loved to travel…India, Japan (where he lived for 2 ½ years), most of Europe, Peru, Amazon and Australia.
His late wife, Monika, was born in Warsaw. She lived there until she was 18 and then moved to Chicago. She finished university there, and that is where they met. He and Monika moved to Newport Beach in 2001. Will and Dylan were both born at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. They went to church at the Catholic Chapel on Balboa Island.
Ron told us how they ended up at Harbor. One Sunday in 2016 when Will was 6 and Dylan was 4, they were starting out to church but had car trouble. Will suggested they try the church across the street. Previously they had walked around the church as Will was into Pokemon-go and there was good Pokemon on our campus. There was a sign for Vacation Bible School that was starting the next day. When they arrived at church, everyone welcomed them. Pastor Stan’s sermon was on how teachings of Jesus could be found in Monster Inc (Pixar Movie). They signed up for Vacation Bible School the next day, and Harbor became their church. It was one of the “special places” like a secret garden they discovered in California….and it was across the street from their house. It seemed like it was meant to be. Ron notes that everyone was so kind and welcoming. In all the time they were going to the chapel on Balboa Island, they had never met anyone new. Ron, Will and Dylan began attending Harbor Christian Church in 2016 and became members in 2019.
Ron’s favorite memories of Harbor are: 1) Decorating the altar with flowers and plants, 2) Choir (Will’s idea), 3) Potlucks, 4) Pastor Stan’s series on God in Pixar movies, 4) Rescuing the cat out of a huge bush on Blessing of the Animals Sunday, 5) Helping Miss Mary Ann with Sunday school cleanup and 6) Talking with Pastor Ryan about how the sermon intersects with science.
Ron, Will and Dylan enjoy travelling to Poland. Monika has two living cousins there. They were going there at least once a year until the pandemic. They have not been back since the pandemic. During that time the war in Ukraine broke out, so they have lent their apartment in Warsaw to a Ukrainian family. They are a mother and two daughters, while the father is still in Ukraine fighting. Ron hopes they can soon travel more. Rome is on their list, and they would like to go back to Canada (Ontario) because Ron’s family still lives there.
Ron’s favorite activities outside of church are “whatever the kids want to do.” They’ve spent the last two years trying different ramen restaurants each Saturday and have run out of ramen places to try that do not require long driving time. They also enjoy ice cream at the Confetti on Fairview – voted best ice cream in the world by them.
Ron’s Day Job: You may know that Ron leads a team of system architects and several project teams that solve problems with technology all over the world. He is up in the early hours of the day communicating with his teams.
We are so pleased Ron, Will and Dylan are a part of the Harbor family, and we cherish their friendship. We thank him so very much for his help with our youth as well as helping in many other ways at church. We also appreciate his ability to select the best watermelon ever.