1of41The casket of Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel is carried to the hearse at the conclusion of the Funeral Mass for her at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less2of41A woman stops at a shrine to pray at the conclusion of the Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less
3of414of41The casket of Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel is carried into the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church during the start of her Funeral Mass in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less5of41Mourners at the conclusion of the Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less
6of417of41Mourners leave the Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less8of41Mourners hold hands at the conclusion of the Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less
9of4110of41Mourners leave the Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less11of41The hearse carrying Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel leaves the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church at the conclusion of her Funeral Mass in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less
12of4113of41Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less14of41The hearse carrying Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel enters the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church at the conclusion of her Funeral Mass in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less
15of4116of41A mourner during the Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less17of41Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less
18of4119of41The American flag at St. Rose School flies at half-staff near the the Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less20of41"Hug A Teacher Sandy Hook," reads a sign written on the back of a dirty Best Buy truck passing the Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less
21of4122of41A Newtown police car at the Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less23of41Hartford Police motorcycle officers at the Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less
24of4125of41Mourners at the Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less26of41A sign at the Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less
27of4128of41Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less29of41
A Newtown police car during the Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.
30of4131of41The sign for the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church during the Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less32of41Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less
33of4134of41Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less35of41Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less
36of4137of41Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less38of41Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less
39of4140of41A police officer salutes a hearse leaving the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church before the start of the Funeral Mass for Sandy Hook Elementary School student Olivia Rose Engel in Newtown, Friday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2012.Bob LuckeyShow MoreShow Less
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NEWTOWN -- A large color photograph of Olivia Rose Engel, 6, adorned an easel with a cluster of white roses arranged on the floor.
Dressed in white, Olivia smiled playfully, bent slightly at the waist as if inviting those gathered to join in her fun.
Yet the mood was solemn at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church Friday as hundreds gathered to say goodbye to the little girl, one of the students who died in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting a week earlier.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, First Selectman Pat Llodra and Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson were among those attending.
A lone state trooper stood at attention beside the closed, white coffin in the sanctuary as Monsignor Robert Weiss returned to Olivia's last moments. He recalled that a Newtown police officer bent down to the dying girl, held her in his arms and said "I love you."
Olivia's godparents, Dan Merton and Julie Pokrinchak, remembered the girl who loved purple and brought so much joy to the world.
They spoke of her "infectious giggle," of how she laughed the loudest at her own jokes and how she loved to sail over the waves in a boat with her father, Brian, and grandfather, Richard Engel.
Olivia was to be an angel in St. Rose of Lima's Christmas Eve pageant this year. As her mourners exited the chapel Friday, they learned that the pageant, to be held at Newtown High School, will be dedicated to her.
