A prayer for Gloria | Gloria's funeral celebrates her life

Gloria Strauss wanted a party when she was healed. Maybe a luau or something of similar extravagance. As cancer crept through her body, she leaned on her vivid imagination to picture triumph and celebration.

So at her funeral Thursday, her family and friends honored her wishes. They laughed while balling up tissues. They hugged and shared memories. They sang.

"How can we keep from singing?" Father Tom Vandenberg cooed repeatedly throughout his homily, as did about 2,000 others who had gathered for the service.

His message was simple: Revel in Gloria's life.

During the opening procession, Anthony Strauss, Gloria's 5-year-old brother, sat atop a friend's shoulders, holding up a large photograph of Gloria as they entered the Kennedy High School gymnasium in Burien, where the funeral was held. Even though it was almost his size, Anthony lifted the image high and turned from side to side so everyone could see.

Gloria died last Friday after more than four years of battling neuroblastoma. She was only 11 and never became the actor and singer she hoped to be. Instead, her story of faith and love, which was chronicled for nearly five months in a Seattle Times series, touched thousands. Even in grief, her impact was clear.

"We are very broken, but how can we keep from singing?" Doug Strauss, Gloria's father, asked in his eulogy. "How can we keep from singing? She was so beautiful."

Her life was not only about her steadfast belief in God and in a miracle. She was fun — and funny. She was goofy and sassy, stylish and reckless.

"She taught us so much about the dimensions of love," said Sandy Smith, principal of St. Philomena Catholic School in Des Moines. "That abundance of love would flow to whoever was in the room with her."

Gloria's desk remains in the middle of her sixth-grade classroom. It is a memorial, with one framed picture, another group picture of her classmates, a white candle, a glass heart, a statuette, two rosaries and a cross.

"There are a lot of kids who've been saying they're hearing little whispers from Gloria," said Mary Ruth, a St. Philomena teacher whose daughter, Aleah, was one of Gloria's best friends. "I've heard that a lot at my home. I really believe them when they say it. It's that feeling that Gloria is still present."

On Wednesday evening, 1,500 mourners came to the school's chapel for the viewing. About 900 gathered for a special reciting of the Rosary, which was Gloria's favorite prayer. Gloria said she never felt pain while praying the Rosary.

Then on Thursday morning, with school closed for the day in Gloria's honor, her casket was moved into the gymnasium, the same place where her father coaches the boys basketball team and was baptized 16 years ago.

On a boulder down the steps from the school's chapel, Kennedy students wrote "Gloria, you are our rock" and surrounded it with flowers and teddy bears.

Caitlin Rosellini, a close friend and a freshman at Kennedy, recalled Gloria's humor. "She was the biggest goof; she was always so much fun," Caitlin said.

Gloria, Aleah and Caitlin's sister, Lexie — they were the new Charlie's Angels. They once had a photo taken in that iconic Angels pose.

That photo was taken in April, on the day Gloria's parents were told that she was down to weeks to live. Until her last breath, they believed God would heal her. Instead, the family says, Gloria was granted a ticket to heaven.

Father Vandenberg, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Federal Way, listened to Gloria's first confession. Afterward, he said she told him, "You're really nice, like a grandpa."

"How can we keep from singing?" Vandenberg cooed once more. And the crowd sang along with him.

They could not halt the singing. They watched a touching 20-minute tribute to Gloria of photos and videos, and then they sang again.

Thursday also marked the birthday of Gloria's youngest brother, Vincent, who turned 1. During the eulogy, Doug Strauss talked about each of his six children, and thanked them. When he got to baby Vincent, he had the crowd call out a huge "happy birthday."

So Gloria's party was about more than her. That is how her loved ones say she touched people, through her unselfishness.

Said her father: "Her legacy will reign."

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com.