KittyMom
01-16-2008, 04:06 PM
http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou080116_ac_babygracefuneral.29f09713.html
12:27 PM CST on Wednesday, January 16, 2008
By Kevin Reece / 11 News
After a long journey, from Ohio to Texas and back, the girl known to the world as Baby Grace was laid to rest Wednesday.
Her funeral was at St. Bede the Venerable Catholic Church, where hundreds gathered to prove just how much she was loved.
Three Galveston County deputies and an FBI agent carried her coffin into the church, and again when they reached Mentor Municipal Cemetery, fulfilling a promise they made when they found her.
It was the end of an emotional journey for the deputies and Riley's family.
One of her uncle's spoke at the church service, asking that Riley is never forgotten and that children are guarded so that something like this never happens again.
"So fly high, little Riley Ann, fly high above and know that you'll always be, and forever have our love," Michael Nebelski said at the service. "Let's not forget about Riley; let's not forget about all the other babies out there that are missing, and let's keep this thing going."
The family released dozens of pink balloons for Riley after the funeral service.
Each balloon will have a message tied to it asking anyone who finds it to let the family know how far their love for Riley has flown. Other balloon releases were planned for as far away as South Africa and Kuwait.
The snow-covered shores of Lake Erie are a long way from the warm waters of Galveston’s West Bay, where the journey will now return as her mother and stepfather face trial.
“It’s been difficult. It’s not the homecoming we would have wanted, but I’m glad she’s home now,” Riley’s grandmother, Sheryl Sawyers, said.
As a small crowd of family and deputies from Galveston gathered around a tiny coffin at the Monreal Funeral Home for the memorial Tuesday, Sawyers thanked everyone involved for bringing her granddaughter home.
“It just shows how much she was loved and by a lot of other people we don’t even know, and she’s touched a lot of hearts,” Riley’s grandmother, Sheryl Sawyers, said. “People who just fell in love with her, and how could you not?”
12:27 PM CST on Wednesday, January 16, 2008
By Kevin Reece / 11 News
After a long journey, from Ohio to Texas and back, the girl known to the world as Baby Grace was laid to rest Wednesday.
Her funeral was at St. Bede the Venerable Catholic Church, where hundreds gathered to prove just how much she was loved.
Three Galveston County deputies and an FBI agent carried her coffin into the church, and again when they reached Mentor Municipal Cemetery, fulfilling a promise they made when they found her.
It was the end of an emotional journey for the deputies and Riley's family.
One of her uncle's spoke at the church service, asking that Riley is never forgotten and that children are guarded so that something like this never happens again.
"So fly high, little Riley Ann, fly high above and know that you'll always be, and forever have our love," Michael Nebelski said at the service. "Let's not forget about Riley; let's not forget about all the other babies out there that are missing, and let's keep this thing going."
The family released dozens of pink balloons for Riley after the funeral service.
Each balloon will have a message tied to it asking anyone who finds it to let the family know how far their love for Riley has flown. Other balloon releases were planned for as far away as South Africa and Kuwait.
The snow-covered shores of Lake Erie are a long way from the warm waters of Galveston’s West Bay, where the journey will now return as her mother and stepfather face trial.
“It’s been difficult. It’s not the homecoming we would have wanted, but I’m glad she’s home now,” Riley’s grandmother, Sheryl Sawyers, said.
As a small crowd of family and deputies from Galveston gathered around a tiny coffin at the Monreal Funeral Home for the memorial Tuesday, Sawyers thanked everyone involved for bringing her granddaughter home.
“It just shows how much she was loved and by a lot of other people we don’t even know, and she’s touched a lot of hearts,” Riley’s grandmother, Sheryl Sawyers, said. “People who just fell in love with her, and how could you not?”