A former Valencia High student, who recently died while on active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps, was remembered Saturday afternoon by friends and family at a memorial service at Valencia High School.

Hundreds of people gathered in the Valencia High theater to remember the life of Jake Solley, who was serving as a sergeant in the Marine Corps when he died on Sept. 25, 2018. He was 23 years old.

Many people came up and spoke to the standing-room-only crowd about the memories they had of Solley, including his siblings, his Marine Corps Platoon Commander and his former football coach.

While different people had different memories of Solley, one thing remained consistent throughout their stories — his kindness and determination.

Valencia football coach Larry Muir described how Solley would look out for his fellow teammates when he was playing football at Valencia.

“If he needed to straighten somebody out, he’d straighten them out,” Muir said, trying to contain his tears as he remembered Solley. “If he needed to hug a kid, he’d a hug a kid. If he needed to talk to a kid, he’d talk to a kid.”

Solley enlisted in the Marine Corps with his friend, Connor White, after they graduated from Valencia in 2012. According to White, who is now serves as a sergeant in the Marine Corps, Solley had to drop 40 pounds in order to make the weight requirements.

“Jake being Jake, he just went, ‘Yeah, no problem,’” White said. “And he did it.”

White, Muir, and other friends and family shared similar anecdotes of Solley that all pointed to one idea: Jake Solley was a kind and determined young man, whose life touched hundreds of people.

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