Madison community mourns and celebrates Rubi Vergara, victim of Abundant Life school shooting

Rubi Patricia Vergara and her family loved to laugh.

That was a central message at Vergara’s funeral, held at City Church Madison on Saturday — days after the 14-year-old was killed in Wisconsin’s deadliest school shooting on Monday.

“At any point in the service, if something is funny that’s said about a memory of Rubi — laugh. And if you need to clap in confirmation — clap,” said Andy Remus, Vergara’s uncle. “If this is truly a celebration of life, then let’s do it.”

That celebration included memories of Vergara’s love of music and animals, her creativity and her empathetic spirit.

Her best friend’s mother said Vergara was a “light in the world,” and called on attendees to honor Vergara by cherishing each other and remembering the joy Vergara brought to others.

The high school freshman was one of two people killed at Abundant Life Christian School, along with 42-year-old teacher Erin M. West of DeForest.

The shooter, a student at the school, also died of a self-inflicted gunshot.

Remus said his family does not hold bitterness toward the 15-year-old shooter or her family.

“They lost a daughter, too,” he said.

And he thanked the Madison community and law enforcement for its support.

“We were treated with kindness and the most compassion you can ever imagine,” he said.

Mourners at Vergara’s funeral spoke about her love of music, the crafts she made for her friends, and her connection with her cat, Ginger, and her dog, Coco.

Dawn Morris, a family friend, held up crafts that Vergara had made for her and recalled her smile and how the girl “sang like an angel.”

“She applied a caring and creative approach to everything she did,” said Morris. “She never wanted to be in the spotlight, and she would probably be horrified to see that there’s this many people in the church just for her.”

Abbey Staum recalled how her daughter, Josie, and Vergara were inseparable. The best friends of a decade — since preschool — would stay up late talking, and once took their school class pictures together, wearing matching friendship bracelets.

“They got each other in a way I’ve never seen before: so funny, so creative, so wonderfully weird in the best way,” Staum said.

“I thought they’d grow up and do something amazing with all their creative ideas together,” she added. “I thought they’d grow up to be silly old ladies still making each other laugh until they couldn’t breathe.”

Staum said Vergara’s short life should serve as a “reminder of what it means to love truly.”

Monday’s shooting rocked the small religious school, a tight-knit community of about 400 students, spanning pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade. At a prayer service earlier in the week, and again at Vergara’s funeral, speakers repeatedly held up their Christian faith as a source of comfort and strength in the face of the unimaginable.

Vergara’s aunt, Stacy Remus, played a worship song that she said was her niece’s favorite. Before she began, she thanked God: “For accepting our precious Rubi.”