Town mourns boys who fell through ice

LAWRENCE, Mass. -- Four boys who died after plunging through the ice on a frozen river were remembered at an emotional funeral service Thursday for their love of life and efforts to try to save one another.

"They are heroes in our eyes," the Rev. Jorge Reyes told hundreds of mourners who attended the funeral Mass for William Rodriguez, 11; Christopher Casado, 7; Victor Baez, 9; and Mackendy Constant, 8.

Lawrence School superintendent Wilfredo Laboy described the boys as adventurous and said they had "great love for life."

"All of these boys shared a sense of responsibility to each other and to their friendship," he said.

Laboy described William as "innocent, playful and sincere."

Mackendy, he said, always had a big smile. "He was so likable, often he was the center of attention."

Victor was a popular boy who enjoyed helping people. And Christopher, the youngest, was bigger than life, Laboy said. "He had a champion attitude."

The boys had been in a group of seven friends Saturday walking home from the nearby Boys and Girls Club of Greater Lawrence when some of the boys ventured out onto the 1- to 2-inch thick ice of the Merrimack River.

William was the first to fall through, said the three who survived. As the others tried to save him, Christopher, Victor and Mackendy also fell through and became trapped under the ice.

"I think everyone is taking it like it's their child. They're the children of Lawrence," said police chief John Romero as he arrived for the service.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and U.S. Rep. Martin Meehan, whose district includes the town, were also among the mourners.

Christopher Restel, 8, and his brother, Christian Restel, 7, came with their mother, Annabel Rivera, 31. "They were my best friends," Christopher said of the four boys.

"It's really sad. It's very hard for a mom to lose a son," Rivera said.

Beatrice Vargas, 30, who stood with her daughters, Shameeka Rodriguez, 12, and Yveliza Rodriguez, 8, called the four boys the "angels who left us."

"They are always going to be in our memories," she said.

The community, deeply touched by the tragedy, has poured out support for the boys' families, who immigrated to the heavily Hispanic city from Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

A fund for the families has already received more than $30,000, according to city officials.