BEDFORD -- Michael S. McKinney was honored Wednesday by morethan 600 friends and relatives in what might have been thebest-attended funeral his church has seen.
On a dreary day, the McKinney family, which lost Michael afterhe was shot by a University Police officer at Ball State five daysago, shared both their memories and their grief with the people whoattended.
"We know that to really understand Mikey, we have to understandall of you," sister Katie McKinney said.
The voices of family members who spoke to the crowd werecracking and shaky as they spoke.
"I've learned to know Mikey as a friend," brother Ryan McKinneysaid. "That's something you have to earn."
Katie McKinney clearly sent the message that her brother's deathwas wrong.
"I don't think this is God's will," she said. "I think God'scrying just as much as we are."
When it ended, pallbearers took the casket to the hearse, whichcarried Michael McKinney to the cemetery two blocks away. Schoolchildren at St. Vincent DePaul Catholic School, McKinney's gradeschool, lined the street as the hearse passed by, bowing theirheads under a sign that read "We love you Mikey."
Many mourners followed the hearse in their vehicles. Otherswalked from the church to the cemetery.
At the burial, Michael McKinney's fraternity brothers from DeltaChi put their arms around each other in a circle and sang theirfraternity song.
Justin Gilbert, Michael McKinney's best friend while growing up,was pleased with the way his friend's funeral turned out. He saidthe priest at the church told him it was the best-attended funeralhe had ever presided over. It was also the first time the priesthad seen mourners walk from the church to the cemetery.
"That's probably the biggest funeral they'll ever have," Gilbertsaid.
The McKinney family invited well-wishers to the local Knights ofColumbus after the burial for a meal. The mood inside was much likeit had been at the funeral and the viewing the day before; Therewas a mix of anger and grief, but no one went long withoutlaughing.
"You can't go five minutes without remembering something funny,"Brian Mickish, McKinney's high school friend, said. "It brings asmile back to your face."
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