Majors Brengle and Georgia Navarro recently entered honorable retirement from their most recent appointment, the San Diego Centre City Corps. Together they completed over 46 years of service.
Brengle was born in the Philippine Islands to Envoy and Mrs. Favio Navarro, who pioneered the Army work in the Philippines.
Brengle and first wife Luzvilla entered the Courageous Session in Manila and were commissioned in 1958. Their first appointment was to open the corps in Leyte Island. After Luzvilla’s promotion to Glory in 1962, Brengle continued to serve in various corps appointments in the Philippines. In 1965, he attended the International College for Officers in London and was a delegate to the Centennial Congress in London. He was appointed youth secretary of the Philippine Command (now a territory) in 1967.
In 1968, Brengle met his future wife, Salvationist Georgia Sison, a teacher. They married in 1970 and served as soldiers in the Malingao Corps. They were blessed with four children: Debbie, Neil, Zaida and Glen. Brengle also had children from his first marriage: Armelita, Brengle Jr., Rosalind and Renabeth.
In 1983, the family emigrated from the Philippines to Hawaii, where Brengle and Georgia worked at the Honolulu Adult Rehabilitation Center. They were accepted as Army officers in 1984 and appointed as auxiliary captains to re-open the Koloa Corps and to serve as associate officers of the Lihue Corps on Kauai.
They were transferred to the Honakaa Corps as corps officers in 1986. In 1989 they returned to the Lihue Corps, this time as corps officers and Kauai Island coordinator, and with the rank of full captain.
They were appointed to the Gateway Corps, in Ketchikan, Alaska, in 1995. In 1998, they took their final appointment at the San Diego Center City Corps, where they have developed a ministry for the homeless and seniors in the heart of downtown San Diego.
In retirement, the Navarros will reside at 23615 Madison Avenue, Murrieta, CA 92562.