Three funerals in one day for Brentwood fallen five
Posted Apr 21, 2014 6:32 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Several bouquets of brightly coloured flowers adorned the front of a Calgary chapel where a funeral was held Monday for a young man stabbed to death at a house party.
A photograph of Jordan Segura as a young child sat among the flowers.
The standing-room only event began and ended with his favourite ska and hip hop songs.
Segura, who was 22, was one of five young people killed last week at a party marking the end of classes at the University of Calgary.
The funeral program described Segura as a “beloved son, amazing brother, friend and grandson, who was a gentle and kind soul.”
A friend of Jordan reassured mourners that the Calgary university student wasn’t alone when he died.
Jayda Shreenan told more than 300 people that Segura was surrounded by those who loved him as he took his last breath.
Shreenan remembered Jordan as a generous and wonderful friend who was always ready with a compliment.
Segura’s older brother, Jullien, said his brother was all about integrity and speaking the truth.
Funerals for two other victims, Kaiti Perras and Josh Hunter were also held Monday.
A celebration of life took place at First Alliance Church for 23 year old Perras.
“Don’t wear it alone,” Kaiti’s uncle, Galen Parras said, fighting back tears, as he told family and friends to lean on each other through the grief.
He is a university lecturer, but this was the hardest speech he ever had to make.
He painted a picture of his niece as an intelligent, compassionate and humble young woman who loved fashion, dance and her family.
Parras recalled that Kaiti once said never to wear black to her funeral; so, many family and friends honored her memory by donning bright colours.
Kaiti’s friend and roommate, Kristy Berg remembered Kaiti’s smile, and how she was always there to boost her self esteem.
One of the acoustic pieces played at the service was a cover of “Love is a Place” by Metric, a song her roommates heard Kaiti playing the Monday morning before she was killed.
Although it’s hard to untangle the tragedy of how Kaiti died from her life, Kristy urged everyone to remember the beauty of how Kaiti lived and not how she was taken.
At a Service at Christ Church in the SW, Josh Hunter was described as kind, genuine and passionate.
Friends and family joined together in a tearful rendition of “Amazing Grace” and Peter Gammell gave the eulogy, saying Josh had a child’s heart.
“It’s not so much an innocence that suggests some kind of blissful ignorance but more of an intelligence of an old soul”, he said. “Like that person is in possession of a secret that overrides all other wisdoms”.
He went on to say a drummer needs swagger and Josh had plenty of it.
He and his best friend Kyle made up half of Zachariah and the Prophets. They would often use the term bass and drums forever.
Zackariah Rathwell will be laid to rest Tuesday and mourners will gather for Lawrence Hong on Wednesday.
Meantime, The University of Calgary is encouraging Calgarians to share their messages of sympathy and support in the wake of the Brentwood tragedy.
The school is providing some blank banners for anyone to share their story of how they’ve been impacted by the tragedy and to pass on condolences to the families affected.
Volunteers will be on hand helping out in the south courtyard of MacEwan hall, every day this week from 9:00am until 7:00pm.
