Pa. Amish community grieves, forgives

Traditional Amish service
Amish funerals are conducted in German and focus on God, not on commemorating the dead. Mourners do not sing, but ministers read hymns and passages from the Bible and an Amish prayer book.

A couple who attended the funerals of Ebersol and Fisher said there were two ministers at each service, which is customary. The ministers recounted the Biblical story about the Earth’s creation in seven days, said the 48-year-old husband, who provided only his first initial and last name, A. King.

He quoted one of the ministers as saying, “The person that died isn’t here anymore. We have to think of the people who are still living.”

State troopers who responded to the shootings were present at one of the burials, the couple said. “That was really touching for us,” A. King said.

Donors from around the world are pledging money to help the families of the five dead and the five wounded in amounts ranging from $1 to $500,000. The families could face steep medical bills.

Though the Amish generally do not seek help from outside their community, Kevin King, executive director of Mennonite Disaster services, an agency managing the donations, quoted an Amish bishop as saying: “We are not asking for funds. In fact, it’s wrong for us to ask. But we will accept them with humility.”

At the behest of Amish leaders, a fund has also been set up for the killer’s widow and three children.

Mostly quiet, somber trip
During the slow trip to the funerals, the clip-clop of the horses was broken up only by the roar of official helicopters enforcing the no-fly zone.

Mary Miller, 43, a hotel housekeeper, watched the processions from her front porch. As the buggy carrying one of the dead passed, Miller said, “I had tears in my eyes because I knew there was a child’s body in that one.”

In the attack on West Nickel Mines Amish School, Roberts took over the schoolhouse, sent the adults and boys out and bound the 10 remaining girls at the blackboard. Investigators said he might have been planning to sexually assault the girls before police closed in. He shot the girls and killed himself.

Roberts had confided to his wife by cell phone that he was tormented by memories of molesting two young relatives 20 years ago.

A sixth victim was reported in grave condition Thursday. County coroner G. Gary Kirchner said he had been contacted by a physician at Penn State Children’s Hospital in Hershey who said doctors expected to take one girl off life support.

Daniel Esh, an Amish artist and woodworker whose three grandnephews were at the school, said there was also talk among the Amish of tearing down the schoolhouse.

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