Peace Pole placed in honor of fallen soldier Rueben “Boy” Lopez of Williams, Yuba City, California – USA
September 21, 2023
In honor the life and service of Rueben “Boy” Lopez of Williams, the Sutter County Museum unveiled a peace pole on Thursday in Yuba City.
Lopez, an Army private first class, was killed in action with four other soldiers from the Army 10th Mountain Division in the Kandahar Province of southern Afghanistan on Aug. 11, 2011.
Since the time of Lopez’s death, his family has been installing peace poles and performing other good deeds in his name throughout Colusa County. Peace poles also have been placed at Burchfield Primary School in Colusa and at locations in Williams and Arbuckle.
The Peace Pole installed at the museum was commissioned and donated by Scott and Barbarba Hankins of Meridian. Barbara Hankins has maintained a close friendship with Lopez’s family for nearly 40 years and also serves as vice president of the Community Memorial Museum Association.
A peace pole is a hand-crafted monument that displays the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth” on all sides, usually in different languages. There are over 200,000 Peace Pole planted worldwide. For Sutter County, the Hankins family chose English, Spanish, Punjabi, and Hmong to honor major languages within the Yuba-Sutter community.
A plaque dedicated to Lopez was also installed next to the peace pole, which reads “In memory of Rueben ‘Boy’ Lopez and all those who have given their lives in the name of peace.”
Submitted by:
In Gratitude and Service Above Self,
Major Reneé Marie, U.S. Army Retired Reserve (916) 969-8957
Founder, Peace Poles For Schools, 2001
MAY PEACE PREVAIL ON EARTH INTERNATIONAL