Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
More funerals Monday:
Funerals were held for Alaina Petty, 14, and Luke Hoyer, 15, both of Parkland.
About 1,500 people attended Petty’s service at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Coral Springs. Her older siblings, Ian, Meghan and Patrick, all spoke, as did her parents, Ryan and Kelly Petty. Gov. Rick Scott attended.
“That enthusiasm for service, her love for friends and fellow citizens continued,” said Elder Stephen D. Thompson, who presided over the funeral.
The funeral for Hoyer was held at the Church by the Glades in Coral Springs. More than 350 people came together to honor the spirit of the Stoneman Douglas High School freshman.
The obituary by his family on Legacy.com said: “He loved his family, his dogs and his friends.”
Alaina Petty surprised her family when she joined the JROTC at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School because she had not expressed much interest in it.
But she was a natural at it, just as she was at volunteering to help families in Everglades City dig out of Hurricane Irma.
On Monday morning, about 1,500 people attended the funeral of the girl described as caring, smart and confident. Gov. Rick Scott was there at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Coral Springs, offering condolences to the family.
Alaina was killed during the Feb. 14 shooting at her school that claimed 17 lives.
At 14, she was the youngest of four children. Her siblings, Ian, Meghan and Patrick all spoke, as did her parents, Ryan and Kelly Petty.
When Aliana was 10, the family moved from Seattle to Parkland and soon she discovered the JROTC.
“She was excited to be part of the female color guard team and every day she would come home and tell me all the fun things she had learned,” said Kelly Petty.
Alaina’s shining quality was that she was very caring, her family said. And while she loved to have fun, she showed a maturity beyond her years.
“It’s impossible to sum up all that Alaina is and all that she means to her family and friends,” said her dad, Ryan Petty.
“You could not escape Springs Road: “Love Wins. MSD Strong.”
She hopes people who drive by will find comfort if they see it.
“I want to give strength to anyone who is feeling hurt, and I want people to know that love wins over hate,” she said.
Alejandro Guerrero, 16, a junior at North Broward Preparatory School in nearby Coconut Creek, brought small candles, which he placed on top of each memorial site. He said the candles represent light.
“They’re still bright people and their light still shines,” said Guerrero, who knew Joaquin Oliver, one of the students who died. “A lot of people are planning for change because of them. I want to remember them not as victims but as of agents of change.”
In Hollywood, about 50 students, some with their parents, gathered along the sidewalk between the Hollywood Boulevard roundabout and City Hall.
Other protests took her innate sense right and wrong, but you never felt that she was judging you,” he said. “She just wanted to be your friend.”
Alaina’s sister Meghan said that last Wednesday was the hardest day of her life.
When they were small, Alaina copied everything she did, which annoyed Meghan to the point that she asked their mother to make Alaina stop.
“The truth of it is, and the more I got older and what kinda hit me hard when I place in Plantation, Delray Beach and others on a day when students were off school for Presidents Day.
“It feels like we’ve done something right as a parent and shows that we’ve raised them with character and values,” Angela Lopez, whose 14-year-old daughter, Sara, was protesting in Hollywood. “One person can make a difference, but if they have a tribe to support them, it’s even better.”
The students chanted call-and-responses including, “What do we want? Gun control. When do we want it? Now,” as well as “Protect kids, not guns,” and “It could’ve been us.”
“I just think if someone isn’t able to buy a beer ... they shouldn’t be able to buy an assault rifle legally,” said Ellie Branson, 16, a junior at South Broward High School who was attending her third gun protest in four days. “This message is important and we want our voices to be heard.”
Branson was an organizer found out she was gone...I want to be like her,” she said.
“The thing I want to say about what happened to her, is that it was a very ugly thing, an act committed by one person...but if you look around the people who are here, there are thousands more that are doing something really, really beautiful,” Meghan said.
Added her brother, Ian: “The thing I learned most from Alaina...how to be patient and loving, how to care for those around you.” of a walkout and protest outside her school on Friday. Since then, she has been photographed and interviewed by news media across the country. It’s something unfamiliar for the flute player and Key Club member isn’t completely used to yet.
“There are so many photos of me crying, which is crazy because that’s such an intimate thing to do and it’s crazy to see out in public,” Branson said. “But if my cry is going to make a difference, then that’s fine.”