MINUTE OF SILENCE
Bombing survivors, residents and state officials were among thousands gathered in silence across the Boston area Monday afternoon, one week after deadly explosions erupted near the Boston Marathon’s finish line.
At 2:50 p.m. — exactly one week after the bombings — many bowed their heads and cried at the makeshift memorial on Boylston Street, three blocks from the site of the explosions. Bouquets of flowers, handwritten messages and used running shoes were piled on the sidewalk.
Gov. Deval Patrick bowed his head during the one-minute silent tribute while standing with other elected leaders on the front steps of the 215-year-old state capitol. The governor then approached a microphone and said: “God bless the people of Massachusetts. Boston strong.” No other words were spoken as church bells pealed throughout the city.
— Associated Press
The church was already packed, so St. Joseph School sixth-grader Michael Sanchez stood outside Krystle Campbell’s funeral with his aunt and hundreds of others Monday to honor the Boston Marathon bombing victim.
The 11-year-old boy remembered Campbell from when she was a day care worker who walked him to his school when he was in kindergarten.
“She was never late,” he said. “She was always on time and very helpful. … She was very loved.”
St. Joseph School was closed for the day as motorcycle police officers filled the street and white-gloved firefighters lined the sidewalk leading to a door of the nearby red-brick church.
Pallbearers brought Campbell’s casket into St. Joseph Church shortly after 11 a.m., the clang of the church’s bell breaking the quiet as the crowd looked on in silence.
Michael watched with his aunt, Rosanne Sanchez, 30, who took a few pictures with her phone before the Medford resident decided to head home with him and her two sons, ages 2 and 3 months. The sixth-grader said he was hoping to return later with his mom, to look at photos of Campbell he heard might be set up as a memorial.
“It should not have happened,” Michael said. “She was too good a person for it to have happened.”
A memorial service for Lu Lingzi, one of the other two people killed in last week’s bombings, was held Monday night at Boston University, which has launched a scholarship fund in her name
Friends and faculty said the 23-year-old Chinese graduate student in statistics was an exceptional scholar with a bubbly personality.
Near Campbell’s funeral, a three-story high American flag hung off the front of Medford City Hall. Red roses and signs in the victim’s memory hung from traffic posts in Medford Square, including one that said the late 29-year-old woman was “flying with angels.”
A slew of union workers from Teamsters Local 25 filled the sidewalk across from the church, as did members of a motorcycle club and others who wanted to make sure protesters who threatened to picket the church wouldn’t disturb Campbell’s family.
Inside the church, St. Joseph’s pastor the Rev. Chip Hines spoke for the victim’s family, who were said to be too distraught to address other mourners. Medford resident Marishi Charles recalled later how Hines spoke of Campbell as someone who was never selfish and who loved to smile and dance.
“She was always there for people. As long as Krystle was around, you were OK. These were the words her family wanted you to remember,” the 30-year-old said.
Boston Roman Catholic Cardinal Sean O’Malley was part of the service, and Irish tenor Ronan Tynan sang “Ave Maria.”
Gov. Deval Patrick also was among those who attended a tribute that came a week after Campbell’s death near the marathon’s finish line.
The restaurant manager and Medford native had been watching the Patriots’ Day athletic spectacle with a girlfriend, and the two had been hoping to capture a photo of the other woman’s boyfriend as he finished the race.
“I’ll remember her as a fun-loving, giggly woman who pretty much always had a smile on her face,” said Sydney Gaudes, a 20-year-old Newton resident who previously had worked for Campbell at a restaurant in Cambridge. “I think she would have been very happy to see all these people.”
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