Update, 3:23 p.m., Dec. 17
Rabbi Jacob Mendelson, the spiritual leader of Congregation Bikur Cholim of Bridgeport, attended the funeral of Noah Pozner earlier today in Fairfield.
He came to pay his respects because "I have grandchildren," he explained. "That's why I'm here. I must be here."
Mendelson extended condolences from his congregation to all those who were affected by Friday's tragedy.
"The sadness is impossible to describe," he said. "Our hearts and prayers go out to all the families who lost loved ones."
Update at 1:45 p.m. Dec. 17
Gene Zingaro and his 11-year-old son Jack attended an earlier service for Jack Pinto, a 6-year-old who was killed in the Sandy Hook School shooting. They were walking along Main Street in Newtown around the time of Jack Pinto's funeral service today.
Jack Zingaro was on Jack Pinto's wrestling team, but they hadn't known each other long.
"He was a new wrestler," said Gene, a local attorney. "And wrestling season had just started."
Still, they attended the service this morning to show solidarity with the wrestling team and support Pinto's older brother Ben.
"Closure? No," he shakes his head. "Our town is going to be before and after 12/14."
"I think it's an important part of the step for the families ... I'm one of the Newtown parents who has his children home. We're fortunate. We're more appreciative. I'll appreciate every moment I have with him until he goes off to college, or wherever he's going."
Also walking along Main Street was Buddy Holland and his mother, Rose. The Newtown residents decided not to attend Pinto's service today.
"It's the family. Friends and family," Buddy said. "But anything else I can do to support people in this time, I'll do anything I can do ... A funeral is never anything that's easy to go through. Never. Whether it's a 100 year-old man or woman ... But when it's a young child whose life was taken from them in such a heinous way, that hurts. I don't care who you are. That hurts."
Update at 1:15 p.m. on Dec. 17:
There are close to 100 mourners at 6-year-old Noah Pozner's funeral in Fairfield, including Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and a rabbi who drove three hours from Catskills, NY, to show support.
Beach Road in Fairfield is closed from Old Post Road to Post Road (Route 1). Bunches of white balloons line one side of Beach Road.
The original report follows:
Lines are forming outside funeral homes in Newtown, Fairfield and Monroe as people assemble to pay their respects to three 6-year-olds who were among the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Dec. 14.
In Newtown, services for Jack Pinto, 6, are set to start at 1 p.m. at the Honan Funeral Home, 58 Main St., Newtown; burial will follow in Newtown Village Cemetery.
About 20 miles south, mourners are gathering at the Abraham L. Green & Son Funeral Home in Fairfield for services of Noah Pozner, 6. Burial is set to follow at B'nai Israel Cemetery, Monroe.
A wake is also scheduled today in Monroe for from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m., at the Spadaccino and Leo P. Gallagher & Son Community Funeral Home in Monroe. A Mass of Christian Burial celebrating Mattioli's life will be held on Tuesday at St. Rose of Lima Church in Newtown at 10 a.m., with burial to follow at St. John's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Darien.
The three 6-year-olds are the first of the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting to be laid to rest. Funeral services for the other victims will take place tomorrow and Wednesday.
Please use the comments section below to pay your respects.
