Eulogies for the Newtown Victims, Thursday
As the week goes on and more of the victims of the Newtown shooting are laid to rest — hundred gathered Wednesday night at the wake for principal Dawn Hochsprung — we continue to collect the memories being shared in public. (Previous posts here, here, and here.)
RELATED: Adam Lanza: What We Think We Know About the Apparent Newtown Shooter
Teacher Anne Marie Murphy, 52, was eulogized by Cardinal Timothy Dolan at a service in Katonah, N.Y., the Associated Press reported:
Dolan told mourners at the funeral of 52-year-old Anne Marie Murphy that the teacher "brought together a community, a nation, a world, now awed by her own life and death."
Murphy's father, Hugh McGowan, said authorities told him that she died trying to protect her young pupils. Her body was found covering a group of children's bodies as if to shield them, McGowan said.
Dolan underscored her sacrifice.
"Like Jesus, Annie laid down her life for her friends," Dolan said. "Like Jesus, Annie's life and death brings light, truth, goodness and love to a world often shrouded in darkness, evil, selfishness and death."
Another adult mourned today was Lauren Rousseau, 30. Per the AP:
The congregation in the packed church sang "Morning Has Broken" and "Let There Be Peace On Earth."
Friends wept on the altar as they remembered the spirited, hardworking, sunny-natured young woman who loved children and animals, especially cats, and who had always wanted to be a teacher. They spoke of how the 30-year-old brightened their lives with her silliness and gave them all nicknames.
Boy Scouts saluted Benjamin Wheeler, 6, described in his Newtown Bee obituary as a "irrepressibly bright and spirited boy whose love of fun and excitement at the wonders of life and the world could rarely be contained."
@boyscouts from all around salute student Benjamin Andrew Wheeler in #Newtown. Ben was a Tiger Scout in Den 6 @cbsnews twitter.com/PaulaReidCBS/s…
— Paula Reid(@PaulaReidCBS) December 20, 2012
Allison Wyatt, 6, was also remembered today. The New Haven Register reported that Reverend Walter Pitman spoke:
He remembered Allison as a teacher to her sister, Lauren, who helped her learn how to ride the school bus. She was also a young artist who turned her room into a studio.
“I don’t imagine heaven is going to be any different now, for Allie has a much bigger studio,” Pitman said.
Six-year-old Catherine Hubbard's mother spoke about her daughter's love of animals, according to the Litchfield County Times:
In the eulogy delivered by Catherine’s mother, Jennifer, she noted Catherine would ask Santa for animals every Christmas, which started with a request for two fish before she could even properly form a sentence.
She also would give animals as gifts. “Needless to say all of the animals stayed in her room,” Hubbard said. “And the concrete squirrel she got me for Mother’s Day never made it into the garden.”
Hubbard recalled how small her daughter looked on horseback when she began taking riding lessons in February but, as Catherine promised, she never fell off.
A wake was held for Jesse Lewis, 6. The Connecticut Post reported:
About 400 people gathered at Honan Funeral Home in Newtown for Jesse Lewis' wake. Outside, officers on horseback and motorcycles waited while friends and family, crying and embracing, packed inside the small funeral home.
Family friends Amanda Caroll and Erin Keaney shivered and sobbed as they talked about the "smiley" boy who loved horses.
A funeral for Grace McDonnell, 7, was also scheduled for today. McDonnell's obituary in the Newtown Bee explained: "She was passionate about painting, and she loved the beach. Grace’s dream was to become a painter and live on Martha’s Vineyard."
