Hundreds pay respects to slain girl’s family

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Photos and flowers were plentiful at the funeral for Karlie Hall, 18, of Chadds Ford.

An 18-year-old college freshman was remembered on Saturday, Feb. 14, for her radiant smile, impish sense of humor, and peace-making talents at Willowdale Chapel in Kennett Square.

Karlie Hall, a Millersville University freshman, was recalled as someone with a range of interests stretching from kittens to rugby.
Karlie Hall, a Millersville University freshman, was recalled as someone with a range of interests stretching from kittens to rugby.

Hundreds of people lined up during a two-hour visitation to express condolences to the family of Karlie Hall of Chadds Ford, a 2014 Unionville High graduate who had been majoring in business administration at Millersville University. Nearly 300 people attended the funeral that followed.

The teen’s death on Sunday, Feb. 8, has sparked an outpouring of support and grief not only from those she touched but also from strangers. Police have charged her boyfriend, Gregorio Orrostieta, 19, of Kennett Square, with criminal homicide, alleging that he beat and strangled her during an argument in her dormitory room.

Rev. Greg Lafferty, the chapel’s senior pastor, conducted the 45-minute service, which included poems, songs, and remembrances. A montage of photos projected on a screen preceded the service. They showed Karlie playing in the snow, relaxing at the beach, cavorting with friends and family, and illustrating her passion for smiling brightly and mugging for the camera.

Lafferty said that when he asked Jeanette Wilson Hall to reminisce about her daughter, she described a person with engaging contradictions: someone who not only loved the soft world of dance, kittens and animals but was also comfortable in the rough-and-tumble atmosphere of sweats, camouflage attire and rugby.

Seated between her two sisters, “she was a bit of an instigator and a tormenter,” Lafferty said, adding “but so often she was the mediator,” the one who could bring people together.

His remarks were echoed briefly by Karlie Hall’s sisters: her older sister Katelyn, and her twin sister, Kristen. Both were overcome with emotion and said they had difficulty deciding what to say. Katelyn said after some consideration, she concluded that choosing one of Karlie’s favorite songs wouldn’t work. She elicited smiles when she remarked: “None of the music she liked was funeral-appropriate.”

Kristen noted that at such a depressing time, the one person they really needed was Karlie. “I have never met anyone so full of happiness,” Kristen said, explaining that Karlie could always make people feel better.

Following the service, the attendees - who included Unionville-Chadds Ford Superintendent John C. Sanville and Carolyn Daniels, a member of the school board - were invited to accompany the family to the interment at Valley Forge Memorial Gardens in King of Prussia and then a reception back at Willowdale Chapel.

Sanville said he found the service moving. “There were soothing words of faith, touching poetic tributes, and the heart-breaking remembrances of sisters - and woven through all was the essence of a happy and vibrant girl who is gone,” he said.  “My wife and I were humbled by the Hall family as they valiantly endeavored to both honor Karlie and bid farewell to her. It was an experience that no family should have to endure.”

“I’m here just as a parent,” Daniels said. “This is the greatest loss a parent could ever know.”

Two online funding efforts helped subsidize the funeral costs, which were initially estimated at $7,000 to $10,000. The first campaign, started by Millersville senior Aisling Burns, has raised nearly $19,000.

On the site - http://www.gofundme.com/karliesangels - Burns explained that $15,000 would be given to the family for funeral costs, and the rest would go to local charities, including a women’s shelter, as she had promised when she created the page.

Her effort prompted profuse thanks from Jeanette Hall. “You are an angel sent by God to help our family at this time,” she wrote on the site. “You are a thoughtful person, and a reminder that there is still good in the human race. You have no idea how you have helped us and how much it means to be able to make proper arrangements for our Karlie. God bless you.”

Christine Bannon DiPaulo started a second fund at http://www.gofundme.com/karlie. “We are raising money to cover additional funeral expenses,” she wrote. “The funeral costs have reached almost $24,000.” To date, that site has raised nearly $6,000.

 

 

 

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