On a hot, yet sunny, day, friends and family gathered together to celebrate the life of Roberta Anne Drury, one of the 10 victims of the mass shooting at a Buffalo Tops supermarket that look place last weekend. Those closest to her says she was outgoing and had a heart of gold.
"Roberta reflected God’s love every time she cared for her brother, every time she greeted someone around her neighborhood or on her street," said Friar Nicholas Spano, parochial vicar and director at Assumption Church. "Every time she talked with friends and family, she was that light that had shown through whatever darkness might have been present. Roberta had a perseverance and a tenacity that was both inspiration and enviable."
Roberta, known as Robbie, moved to Buffalo eight years ago to help take care of her brother who has medical needs due to a bone marrow transplant. She was 32, the youngest victim that lost their life in the mass shooting.
"For someone who comes with a heavy heart today, and you feel as though Roberta is dead, the fact that she lives because she lives in each and every one of you through her life, through her witness and even through the ultimate sacrifice that she paid," People’s AME Zion Church Pastor Daren C. Jaime said.
"Martin Luther King Jr. once wrote: Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that," Spano said. "Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."
The family asked that donations be made to the Buffalo Zoo, a place the sisters enjoyed walking through, Amanda Drury said.
Roberta’s sister says love your neighbor and to show more love and compassion. Although this is the final goodbye, her memory will live on.
Drury is the second shooting victim to be eulogized.
A private service was held Friday for Heyward Patterson, the beloved deacon at a church near the supermarket. More funerals were scheduled throughout the coming week.
More funerals to come next week for the other victims who lost their lives in shooting. You can find more here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.