In a final demonstration of the many people Air Force Capt. Reid Nishizuka touched in his abbreviated life, more than 1,000 packed the Central Union Church sanctuary Saturday night to pay their final respects to the fallen airman.

Nishizuka, 30, was killed on April 27 when the Air Force MC-12 Liberty aircraft he was piloting crashed near Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan. Three other airmen also died in the crash.

"Reid was guided by a strong set of values," said Butch Galdeira, Nishizuka’s best friend. "Everyone who met Reid knew he was the real deal."

Indeed, throughout the hourlong funeral service, friends and family repeatedly turned to the same set of adjectives — intelligent, enthusiastic, selfless, loyal — to describe the humble kid from Kailua whose sense of duty and passion for flying led him to a distinguished career in the military and multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nishizuka’s aunt Liane Morihara shared moving remembrances of "our little Reidy-boy," the precocious tyke who disassembled his toys to see how they worked and asked questions like "Why do people have two small nostrils instead of one big nostril?" He loved his stuffed Chuck E. Cheese doll so much he took it with him to the University of Notre Dame.

"He grew up to be the most decent and noble person I’ve ever known," Morihara said. "The world has lost a beautiful, beautiful soul."

Nishizuka graduated from Kailua High School and earned an aerospace engineering degree from Notre Dame in 2005, the same year he joined the Air Force. Nishizuka’s most recent deployment to Afghanistan began last month.

Lt. Col. David Berg, commander of the 427th Reconnaissance Squadron at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., to which Nishizuka was attached, praised him as a "servant-warrior who put others first and lived by setting the example."

Berg shared accounts from airmen who served under Nishizuka, praising him both for his strong leadership and his happy, encouraging demeanor.

"He was someone who valued family so much that he would stay late at the shop and finish the work so other people could go home to their families," Berg said.

On Thursday, hundreds of military personnel and their families lined the streets at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to mark the arrival of Nishizuka’s body from California. Nishizuka will be buried Monday at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Galdeira said he and Nishizuka were best friends since their seventh-grade year at Kailua Middle School. Despite Nishizuka’s dangerous assignments — he was credited with flying more than 200 combat missions — Galdeira said he was never concerned for Nishizuka’s safety.

Such was the confidence his friend inspired, he said.

"I think we’re all still in a little bit of denial," Galdeira said. "It wasn’t until Thursday when the casket arrived that it really started to hit home."