'An Ocean of Sadness' — Slain Teacher Colleen Ritzer Laid to Rest

By Bryan McGonigle

Tearful mourners at St. Augustine Church in Andover said their goodbyes to Colleen Ritzer, the 24-year-old teacher murdered at Danvers High School last week.

In a sea of tears and comforting embraces, Ritzer's friends and family celebrated her life as they struggled to comprehend her death.

Hundreds of Danvers High School students were there as well, having arrived on school buses to watch the Mass from the church basement.

Rev. Peter G. Gori presided over the funeral Mass.

"In the face of great tragedy, we are shocked and horrified," Gori said. "We are naturally inclined to ask 'Why?' It is immensely frustrating when, like now, there is no satisfactory answer to the question."

Indeed, there is still no "why." A 14-year-old Danvers High School student, Philip Chism, is charged with her murder. But prosecutors have not announced what they believe his motive may have been.

"I will try to follow Colleen's good example as a math teacher, who may suggest that a problem be approached from a different way to seek the solution," Gori continued. "Perhaps we should ask not why, or even how, she died, but rather, why, and how did she live?"

Ritzer, Gori concluded, lived her life with kindness and love — for her many friends, her students, family members and people in need.

"Colleen's gift was that of inspiration," Gina McDaniel, Ritzer's cousin, said. "She possessed an energetic intensity that is rarely seen."

McDaniel spoke about Ritzer's passion for teaching and the inspiration she left with her students.

"She was not just their teacher, but their mentor," McDaniel said. "You can see the effect she has had and how the community has bonded together to commemorate and celebrate Colleen's life."

Ritzer always managed to find something good in every day, McDaniel continued. Ritzer even kept a "memory jar," in which she saved records of good things that happened to her.

Ritzer cherished her family, having a relationship with her parents, Peg and Tom Ritzer, that McDaniel described as "indescribable." Although she cried when her brother Dan was born because she wanted a sister, she loved him as a best friend along with their younger Laura.

"Thank you," McDaniel said to Colleen's parents. "Thank you for raising such a extraordinary woman who has touched all those that she has come across in life."

After the Mass, Father Dennis Gallagher of Assumption College — where Ritzer earned her bachelor's degree — reflected about the powerful emotional impact Ritzer's death has had on the community.

"I think it's fair to say there was an ocean of sadness inside the church." Gallagher said. "On the other hand, I think to gather together at a moment like this, when our grief unites us, and our faith can speak to that grief, in some small way at least it provides some consolation."

Burial services were private.