This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: marcenath158 Surnames: Zamarripa, Classification: biography Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.newmexico.counties.donaana/5239/mb.ashx Message Board Post: LAS CRUCES Sun News 6 March 2011 Jerry Zamarripa was laid to rest Friday, six days after dying in the hospital where he had been fighting for life since being bludgeoned in the head with a golf club during a fight at a late-night house party. Eighteen years isn't a long time on this Earth, but it was long enough to amass the hundreds of loved ones and mourners who crowded into the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Cathedral to whisper final words to the young man in the coffin, examine the names signed across his No. 46 jersey, behind glass, weep, comfort and seek closure Friday morning. At the end of his life, Zamarripa had accomplishments he could be proud of, his older sister Elaine said, reading to the crowd from an essay Zamarripa had written at Onate High School about his family: his mom ("my hero") a single parent of five working full time at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Southern New Mexico who's also pursuing a degree online; his friends ("I never thought I would have this many,"); his friends from the projects with whom he played basketball ("although we were surrounded by violence and junkies, we still seem to act as if we were in a park"); his teachers and what he wanted from a future that never came. "It was like someone climbing a mountain," he wrote of the struggle to improve his academics enough to play sports and prepare for college, perhaps a career as an English teacher, a police officer and a football coach: "I'm still recovering some of my classes, but I won't give up ... There's a whole lot more to come in the future. I can't wait to fulfill my dreams and be successful." Revenge no answer Bishop Ricardo Ramirez, who officiated the ceremony, offered his condolences for Zamarripa, who he described as someone who used his own Christmas money to buy his little brother basketball shoes, "a big man with a big heart" who was struck down trying to defuse the escalating violence at the Tammy Lane party early the morning of Feb. 20. A 24-year-old man has been charged in Zamarripa's death. "In some ways, Jerry was a Christ figure," Ramirez said. "He was a peace maker. He was innocent ... I hope and I pray that the death of Jerry will not be in vain, that we could learn something from him." Don't be vengeful, Ramirez said, an apparent reference to the Feb. 21 shooting that killed 57-year-old Julian Pena, a Vietnam War veteran who was watching television when his home was shot at, allegedly by a group of Zamarripa's friends thinking they had targeted the home of the 24-year-old now in jail for allegedly taking the golf club to Zamarripa. Picture Zamarripa in heaven, Ramirez said. Be good-natured, have goals, and make peace. Family friends hoped Ramirez's words and Zamarripa's example would be taken to heart, they said outside Hillcrest Memorial Gardens Cemetery, where Zamarripa was buried. A mother's grief "He was real driven," said Tracey Rey, a friend of Zamarripa's mother, Yesenia Solis. "He knew the life his mom had, as a single parent, and didn't want that. He would sacrifice anything for his family. Anytime Yesenia was hurt, he lit up her day." "He's going to be missed a lot," said Melissa Vega, another friend of Solis. "It's a tragedy that we had to lose two people. Just keep the peace. I encourage all the kids just to keep the peace like (Zamarripa) would want ... He had dreams that he wanted to pursue. He wanted a family, kids, to coach football, and those dreams are gone now." Double tragedy There was at least one person near the funeral who hoped people would remember that the tragic night of Zamarripa's attack had two victims. Rosario Ybarra visited Hillcrest on Friday morning to pay her respects to Julian Pena, who was buried there Tuesday. Ybarra had worked with Pena for seven years at the Walmart on Walton Boulevard, lived just half a mile from his home, and heard the medical helicopter the night of his shooting, Feb. 21. "My heart fell when I heard (about his death)," Ybarra said, visibly emotional. "I just get goose bumps thinking about it." Ybarra, whose own 18-year-old grandson died in a one-vehicle car crash in 2009, was upset as she watched hundreds of mourners - watched over by the Las Cruces Police Department's full Gang Task Force - stream to Zamarripa's funeral. "It's a tragedy," she said. "I feel sorry for the parents, because they lost a son from that tragedy and here's Mr. Pena lying here." Ybarra said she grieved for Zamarripa's family and didn't blame them at all for not being able to prevent their son from going out late. But, she said, even at 18, he should have been at home, in bed that night. "If (Zamarripa) had been home, we wouldn't have had to bury this man," she said, watching the crowd gather. "Right now, they're crying. (Solis) lost her baby she raised for 18 years. He was in the wrong place in the wrong time. Maybe somebody will change their ways. You never know. But what happened to him? He was in the wrong place. What happened to (Pena)? He was in the right place, at home." Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462. Help out .What: Car wash fundraiser for the families of Jerry Zamarripa and Anthony Sena, who were both hospitalized in El Paso after being attacked at a party Feb. 20. .When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. .Where: Families and Youth, Inc., 1320 S. Solano Drive, Las Cruces .Cost: Donations only. Volunteers are also needed Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.