In Memory of Kem Mylar(1950 - 2012)

Kem Wilbur Mylar, ascended to the spiritual world October 4th, 2012 at 12:20pm. He was in the presence of his wife Anne-Marie and his daughter Andrea. His illness that was latent for several years violently manifested itself in the last four weeks, especially from September 14th onwards. The doctors had given him a two to four months window; however, within two and half weeks of his diagnosis Kem transitioned into the spiritual realm. Although his illness progressed very quickly, Kem seemed to acknowledge that he had lived a full life, and was alright with the idea of transitioning in the spiritual realm at this time.

Kem and Anne-Marie Mylar were matched May 12th, 1979, engaged May 13th, 1979 and married in Cheyenne, Wyoming on the 24th of the same month and year. They were part of the Madison Square Garden marriage blessing July 1st, 1982, and have one child. They consider Andrea to be a true gift and blessing to both of them.

The passages below are the testimonies of three Unification Church members who have known Kem in the forty-one years of his life within the Unification Movement, also known as the Unification Church. Within their testimonies they used terms that are commonly known throughout the movement, but may not be known universally, so for clarity purposes the terms they use are defined here. The founder of the Unification Church Reverend Sun Myung Moon is commonly referred to as True Father or Father. Reverend Moon’s wife Hak Ja Han Moon is commonly referred to as True Mother or Mother. Together Reverend Moon and his wife are referred to as True Parents. Reverend Moon and the members of his church commonly used the term “providence” to note the areas where specific missions or church activities would take place. Also a significant book that is circulated throughout the Unification Church is the Divine Principle. Lastly any person who brings in a new member to the Unification Church is referred as the new member’s spiritual parent or spiritual father or spiritual mother respectively. With these terms in mind, here are the following testimonies:

Bruce Brown (Spiritual Father of Kem):
I first met Kem in early 1971 in Seoul, Korea. At that time we were both in the army. Kem was stationed on Yoido Island, which was then completely devoid of any buildings. Kem was one of those people who was truly brought into the church by Heavenly Father. I was in the army stationed in Yongsan (very close to Chungpa Dong, where True Parents lived). Then one day I was in my barracks praying, when an American soldier I had never met before walked into my room and said "Can you tell me why I am here?" My barracks was in a very remote corner of the base, and was difficult to find, even if you had instructions. So I patiently explained that God had brought him there in order to speak to him and share a new truth which would set him free. He told me, "There is a person you have to meet", so we went to an apartment far away, and I met Kem.

Kem had a group of friends and was trying to start some kind of Christian church. We studied the Divine Principle over several weeks, and Kem joined, as did a couple of other people. Soon, we had a little American church family of six members. Kem met True Parents a week or two after he joined, and True Parents were so happy to meet him and really embraced him. From the beginning, Kem was such a good member. He had the fastest working mind I had ever encountered. He had so many questions that it took a long time to get through the Principle. Thankfully, the Principle has so much internal depth and integrity that the more he asked, the deeper the lectures (more like discussions) became. I never thought about it until now, but without any doubt, those were the deepest initial discussions of the Principle I have ever had.

Kem had to return to the United States before I did, but it did not take long for him to reconnect with me after I returned to Los Angeles in November of 1971. We were in a Unification church center in Alhambra together ("Miss Kim's Day Care Center"). Other members there were Marion Porter (my spiritual Mom), Helen Ireland and my physical brother Gary. At that time, Paul and Cliff Yasutake joined and moved in, as did Dan Stein and also Rose Chapman and her daughter Linda (Eisenberg). We had a very happy center, and I recall Marion having to enforce a condition to stop Kem and my brother from making puns all day.

Father and Mother came to the US via Lost Angeles in December of 1971. After a short trip to Canada, they returned to get things moving in the mission all over America.

After that Kem left for the Midwest—Chicago and Wisconsin— I did not see him again until New York in 1978 and 1979. After that I didn't see him until he and Anne Marie brought me to Hawaii. My wife and I believe they saved my life by getting me out of a 70 - 80 hour a week job, and we will always be grateful. No matter what they say, Kem was the real architect of all the great works taking place in Hawaii right now.

On one level, I feel that I have lost a Father, in True Father and a Son, in Kem, back to back, but in reality I feel them both, and I hope to grow closer to them in the future. Certainly I know True Father called Kem, and that Kem will be helping us here in Hawaii, as well as elsewhere. I am so grateful to him, and he will always be one of the people I respect the most, for his very real and serious view of the Principle, the Providence, and our lives. Kem, thank you so much, I love you.

Doug Williams:
One of Kem's deep loves was working with International Relief Friendship Foundation (IRFF) in the mid 1980’s. He often said that if he had no worries of money he would go back and do his beloved IRFF work. Everything was a passion for Kem, but I remember the particular sparkle when he talked about longing for the IRFF days.

Kem worked in the New York area for many years under various leaderships including being the assistant of Mr. Neil Salonen to working with Dr. David Kim, and other Korean leaders. Among other things, Kem initiated the start of the Blessed Family Department of the Unification Church in those years by placing a phone call to two ladies, Mrs. Nora Spurgin and Mrs. Betsy Jones. He was also involved with the creation of the “Today’s World” magazine.

In 1987 he moved to Delaware with his family to develop various business endeavors with other Unification Church brothers. During this time he developed EXAM MASTER Corporation which served international medical graduates and helped them pass their board exams in the United States. That business is still thriving today.

In 2002 Kem accepted responsibility for setting up the High School of the Pacific in Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii. Soon he moved there with his family, and they continued to offer their whole hearted effort to carry out True Father’s direction in various aspects of the Hawaii providence. Until earlier this year Kem and his family continued to work in Kona with the coffee farm enterprise known as Hawaiian Queen Coffee. In the spring of 2012 Kem moved with his wife Anne-Marie back to their home in Delaware and reconnected with the day to day running of EXAM MASTER.

For my own history with Kem, nothing stands out more than his and Anne-Marie’s personal sacrifice for me to help me find my way when I moved my family to Delaware. Then later he called me to work in Hawaii. He and Anne Marie made real and incredible sacrifices of their time, love, and energy, to help me and my family. He knows because I have told him that, I owe him for eternity; I can never repay; in my mind they will always be one—in my notes spanning many years of friendship and working together, they are always notated as KAM. Thank you Kem and Anne Marie.

Tony Aparo:
I first met Kem when he was called to work in the Chicago area in the early 70's during the Day of Hope tours. However, it was much later in Hawaii when we worked together for seven years and it is that time period that I want to talk about Kem. Kem and Anne Marie were clearly called by God to help the Hawaii providence—particularly the High School of the Pacific, starting in 2002. Kem and Anne Marie are a blessing to True Parents' work in Hawaii—Kem the crusader and Anne Marie the pragmatic detailer. Kem's mind is so sharp, clear and sensitive to right and wrong—a deep worrier. He only wanted to work, all the time.

Kem and Anne Marie both had to be dragged away to anything like entertainment. He just wanted to work all the time. In Kem's mind the High School of the Pacific was one of the purist of visions of True Parents that truly served others selflessly, with no intended return for the Unification Church. Few others understood this as well as Kem. High School of the Pacific was a truly pure offering of service that will probably reap deep rewards for God's providence in the future, that we may never fully realize as those three graduating classes grow to adulthood. He and I would discuss the possibilities of this project and others in Hawaii for hours. Kem's mind is so creative. Even though many ideas would get swatted down by those with a less clear understanding of True Parents' vision, Kem remained so excited about what we could do in Hawaii.

On a more intimate note, I remember one of Kem's stories about True Father in Hawaii. He visited the Pacific Rim Education Foundation (PREF) house one day, where Kem and Anne Marie lived. Kem wanted so much to show True Father the chameleons roaming around in the bushes outside of the house, knowing that True Father would love it. Chameleons are very hard to see, so Kem found one, picked it up and handed it to Father. The chameleon immediately jumped onto Father's hand, scrambled up Father's arm, and down the back of his shirt and into his pant leg. Everyone howled while Kem, embarrassed, tried to retrieve the chameleon from Father's clothes.

On another note, from Anne Marie, True Father loved to feed the peacocks whenever he visited the PREF house, so it was Kem's habit to feed the peacocks every day to make sure they would be there for Father when he came again.
We will miss Kem's offbeat humor. His puns and jokes were constant. Being such a worrier about everything and so sensitive with his sharp mind, he probably needed to keep himself in good humor, just to survive the worry and imperfect world around him. He kept us in stitches as a byproduct maybe, possibly for his own survival, but we were definitely the beneficiaries, all day, every day. Kem often said to others "the Mylar’s are the most boring people on earth" due to the 'all work, no play ethic'. But that was not so, Kem, we will miss you dearly. In Hawaii we hear that they will have their own memorial service soon, so they can pour out their love for their dear brother Kem.