Funerals Continue As 5 More Sandy Hook Victims Laid To Rest
NEWTOWN, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -- As the nation and the world paused to remember the victims of last week's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, three more students and two more adults were laid to rest.
The funerals for 7-year-old Grace McDonnell, 6-year-old Olivia Engel, 6-year-old Dylan Hockley, school psychologist Mary Sherlach and behavioral therapist Rachel D'Avino were held Friday.
A standing room-only crowd filled the St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church in Trumbull for Mary Sherlach's funeral. She was killed as she rushed toward the gunman during the shooting.
Sherlach had planned to retire next year. She was remembered Friday as a caring professional, a fan of the Miami Dolphins and a woman who ultimately put the lives of others ahead of her own.
Grace McDonnell was remembered at a memorial mass in Newtown. Her parents, Lynn and Chris McDonnell, called their 7-year-old daughter "the love and light" of their family and said "words cannot adequately express our sense of loss."
At St. Rose of Lima Church, where several funerals for victims have been held this week, mourners remembered Olivia Engel.
Olivia's family said she loved school and did well in math and reading. She was also a tennis player, took art classes and enjoyed soccer.
Dylan Hockley's funeral was held the Walnut Hill Community Church in Bethel.
The 6-year-old had moved to Connecticut from England with his family two years ago. He died Friday in the arms of his classroom aide, Anne Marie Murphy.
"We take great comfort in knowing that Dylan was not alone when he died, but was wrapped in the arms of his amazing aide," his family said. "Dylan loved Mrs. Murphy so much and pointed at her picture on our refrigerator every day."
Rachel D'Avino's funeral was held in Bethlehem.
The 29-year-old had just started working at Sandy Hook. Her boyfriend was going to propose to her on Christmas Eve and had just asked permission from her family the week before the shooting.
Bells in Newtown tolled twenty eight times, for the victims of the shooting at the school, and for the shooter and his mother; but some residents told CBS 2's Lou Young that they found it difficult to feel sorry for Adam Lanza's mother Nancy.
"It is hard to have sympathy because, as adults, we have to be mature; we have to make choices that are so careful and having a gun in your house like that is not careful," said Lisa Romano.
Still, others said that they understood the gesture.
"It doesn't bother me. I don'tmind, I'm not filled with anger. They're all victims, we're all victims," said former Newtown resident Kaitlin Hall.
More wakes and funerals for victims of the shooting are planned for the weekend.
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