COLORADO SPRINGS — Barb Fisher walked with her hand on the gray metal casket as it moved toward the sanctuary of Holy Trinity Catholic Church on Monday.
She was surrounded by 500 wounded souls who sang: “Make me a channel of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow your love.”
A week earlier, Barb Fisher’s only son, Michael Fisher, 18, had been shot to death in a teen domestic-violence crime that shook Colorado Springs School District 11 and an entire community.
Teens wearing ties and tennis shoes under their Wasson High School letter jackets streamed by an open casket to say goodbye.
Not far from their minds were Jeremy Vasquez, 16, and Tiffany Howard, 16, who were injured by Andrew Brown before he turned the gun on himself. Howard recently had broken off a relationship with Brown.
A woman who did not identify herself when she spoke during the Mass on Monday said Michael Fisher was raised by a dynamic mother, loving aunts and his mother’s close girlfriends. Because of the women in his life, he could never get out of hanging Christmas ornaments, making cookies or going shopping.
Before the service ended, 11 teens walked to the casket in front of the sanctuary and laid white roses on the casket. In the parking lot outside, the windows of several cars were painted: “RIP Michael Fisher.”
Erin Emery: 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com
