The services began Thursday for the 22-year-old with a procession.
"We're all here setting everything aside, whether people say you're blue, you're red...we leave all that aside and we unite in prayer for the eternal repose of Cpt. Hunter Lopez's soul and the peace of his family," said Francisco Sanchez.
The procession is expected to continue Friday and will travel past schools Lopez attended before his body will return to St. Francis of Assisi church in La Quinta around noon for a public viewing.
On Saturday, a public memorial service will be held before Lopez is laid to rest at the Riverside National Cemetery.
Kabul attack: 3 SoCal Marines among the fatalities in airport bombing
Meanwhile, the remains of Lance Cpl. Kareen Nikoui, a Norco native who was also among the 13 American service members killed in last month's bombing attack, are set to return to Southern California on Friday.
A procession is planned to salute the 20-year-old and his family as his coffin goes from the Ontario Airport to Crestlawn Mortuary in Riverside around 2 p.m. The public is invited to come pay their respects and line up along the procession route.