Thousands at KeyArena pay respects to victims of last Saturday's fatal fire

One by one, the lives lost to last weekend's fire in Fremont were celebrated on screen, a series of snapshots taken in happier times.

The boy who dreamed of playing point guard for the Boston Celtics. The siblings who adored their older brother. The girl who liked to jump rope. And the young woman who could win any argument she set her mind to.

The emotional slide show capped Friday's public memorial to those five family members at Seattle Center's KeyArena. The multicultural crowd, estimated at 3,500, largely reflected an East African population united in grief over the loss of so many young lives.

"Your sorrow is our sorrow," said Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn. "Your grief is Seattle's grief. We walk with you in your grief because we are — and will be — one community."

Killed last Saturday morning in the swift-moving fire at Helen Gebregiorgis' Fremont apartment were three of her children — Joseph Gebregiorgis, 13, Nisreen Shamam, 6, and Yaseen Shamam, 5; her sister, Eyerusalem Gebregiorgis, 22; and a niece, 7-year-old Nyella Smith, daughter of a third sister, Yordanos Gebregiorgis.

Their names appeared on the arena's electronic-display board overhead as attendees — including several Seattle Fire Department lieutenants — began to arrive. Some had been shuttled from Yesler Community Center, where the East African community has been gathering all week to grieve alongside the victims' families, members of the city's Ethiopian community.

The Gebregiorgis sisters, along with brother Daniel, moved to Seattle with their refugee parents around 1990, joining a growing local community of Ethiopians who had fled famine and war in their homeland.

Conducted in line with the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian religion to which the family's mother adheres, the funeral opened with chanting clergy at times under a red, ornately embroidered liturgical umbrella. Many in the crowd wore traditional attire, with women in flowing garments and white shawls known as netellas.

In addition to McGinn, speakers included Maria Goodloe-Johnson, superintendent of Seattle Public Schools. "They will be remembered by their beautiful smiles and friendly natures," she said, noting that the deaths had united the city in pain.

Michael Ramos, executive director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, also spoke.

"Every loss of life is tragic," he said. "And it is particularly sorrowful when it involves young people and children."

That sorrow was evident in the ceremony's concluding slide show. Brief biographies and tearful tributes preceded photos set to music, images from life stories that had ended too soon:

Eyerusalem Gebregiorgis, the young woman who liked sweets and wanted to be a prosecutor. Joseph, the popular seventh-grader at Whitman Middle School, who loved basketball, video games and looking after his younger relatives. Nyella, who swam and jumped rope. And siblings Nisreen, a giggly girl who loved to dance, and Yaseen, a loving boy with a never-ending appetite.

With each series of photos, family members crumbled into uncontrollable sobs as others consoled them.

Originally set for Seattle Center's Exhibition Hall, the event was moved to KeyArena because of the large number of expected attendees. "We didn't want to be in a position where people would have to be turned away," said Seattle Center spokeswoman Deborah Daoust.

A letter from the Ethiopian consulate in Los Angeles was read, thanking McGinn for donating the use of KeyArena for the memorial.

Some Seattle residents have questioned McGinn's decision to provide the use of KeyArena for the service at taxpayer expense. Daoust said those costs — which she pegged at less than $5,000 — were low because the arena was already configured for such a large-capacity stage event, having hosted numerous recent high-school graduation ceremonies.

"With this tragedy, the saying 'life is too short' has never been so true," said Saba Desta, cousin to the children who died, nearly breaking down in tears. "I ask that you remember these children by their smiles, and not by their tragic deaths."

Marc Ramirez: 206-464-8102 or mramirez@seattletimes.com