Hundreds of people gathered Saturday at Abbotsford’s largest church to say goodbye to the 13-year-old girl murdered in her school last week.
It was mostly young people who filled Central Heights Church to remember Letisha Reimer.
Grade 11 student Noah Lefevere knew Reimer through church. She was always ready to jump in and do things, he told CTV News.
“She could never sit still she was always moving and doing something,” said Lefevre. “It saddens us all to see someone like her go.”
“It’s like there's a big hole in our church, and on our mission trip,” said Jonathan Goldschmidt, Reimer’s friend. “It’s like a big hole where she should have been.”
Reimer died Nov.1 after being attacked by an intruder in the atrium of Abbotsford Senior Secondary. Her 14-year-old friend, who cannot be named because of a publication ban, was seriously injured.
Pastors say Reimer’s parents are leaning on their faith during this challenging time.
“This is obviously unimaginably difficult for them to walk through,” said Matt Ewert, lead pastor at South Abbotsford Church.
“But certainly we have heard from them… that being part of a church family has been something. They're unsure how they'd be where they are right now without having that support.”
“I think the support for the family is important,” added Jon Wiebe, Reimer’s former youth pastor. “They could see that Letisha was so well known and loved, and that they should feel the same love that Letisha felt.”
Those that knew the young woman say loving her was easy.
“Her laugh would light up the room,” said Wiebe. “She was filled with joy and energy.”
The random murder of a 13-year-old girl has shaken the community, church leaders say, and is a reminder that life is fragile.
“I think we process grief better together,” said Ewert. “And the more people we can get together in a room, we sort of help carry one another through something you really can't make sense of.”
With files from CTV Vancouver’s Shannon Paterson
