CHICAGO — First lady Michelle Obama attended the funeral here Saturday of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, who went to school only a mile from the Obama family home and was gunned down a few days after visiting Washington for President Obama’s second inauguration.
Obama did not know Pendleton, nor did scores of other political dignitaries who filed into the Greater Harvest Baptist Church in Chicago’s South Side for the service. But by returning to her home town of Chicago to honor Pendleton, the first lady spotlighted the everyday gun violence that plagues the nation’s biggest cities at a time when the president is pushing Congress to pass tougher gun laws.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan and White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett accompanied the first lady to the service. All three have long ties to the South Side.
Although the president did not travel here Saturday, the back of a glossy obituary program distributed to mourners included a handwritten note from him to Pendleton’s parents, Cleopatra and Nathaniel.
“Michelle and I just wanted you to know how heartbroken we are to have heard about Hadiya’s passing,” he wrote in the letter. “We know that no words from us can soothe the pain, but rest assured that we are praying for you, and that we will continue to work as hard as we can to end this senseless violence. God Bless, Barack Obama.”
As hundreds of people filed into the church Saturday morning, a heart-shaped pillow rested beside Pendleton’s casket, which was lined in purple, her favorite color. The pillow featured a smiling image of the girl, signed by “mom and dad.”
Some of Pendleton’s classmates and fellow majorettes in the King College Prep’s band wore their black and yellow warm-up suits and carried roses.
Pendleton was remembered as an honors student who enjoyed cheerleading, debate and volleyball. She loved eating Chinese food, cheeseburgers and Fig Newtons; her favorite class in school was Latin; and she aspired to major in pharmacology or journalism in college.
During the service, Eric Thomas, pastor at Greater Harvest Baptist Church, asked that God “let the family know — her parents know — that her life has not been in vain. Because of this day, there will be many others saved.”
President Obama has spoken out repeatedly about finding ways to end not only mass shootings like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., but also the daily gun violence on street corners in cities such as Chicago, the nation’s third-largest.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Rep. Danny Davis (Ill.), all Democrats, attended Saturday’s service, as did the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who stood at the front of the church near Pendleton’s casket for a while before taking his seat in the congregation.
Quinn mentioned Pendleton in his “State of the State” address this week, in which he called for tougher gun control measures. And Emanuel, who was President Obama’s first White House chief of staff before being elected mayor, has become emotional recently when talking about Chicago’s frighteningly high homicide rate.
Michelle Obama mourns slain teenager at Chicago funeral
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Michelle Obama mourns slain teenager at Chicago funeral
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Michelle Obama mourns slain teenager at Chicago funeral
