August 17, 2019

Hundreds of strangers queue for El Paso shooting victim’s funeral after husband feared no one would show up
Just about every morning for the past two weeks, Antonio Basco has risen before dawn to buy as many floral bouquets as he can fit in his car and carried them to a makeshift memorial for the victims of the mass shooting in El Paso.He places the flowers one by one around the white wooden cross for Margie Reckard, his wife. This is his solemn ritual, born of grief and unmooring: tending her garden.“She loved any kind of flowers. I could walk down the street and find flowers that had been run over a thousand times, and she would think it looked like a million dollars,” Mr Basco said on Friday morning.Soon after, the La Paz Faith Memorial and Spiritual Centre in El Paso would be spilling over with bouquets, as hundreds of strangers came to pay their respects to Ms Reckard at her visitation and prayer service.Mr Basco had invited the public to the service this week, worried that he would have to bury his partner of 22 years alone.Ms Reckard, one of the 22 people killed in the attack on 3 August, has children, but Mr Basco has no direct relatives.When Perches Funeral Homes, which was handling Ms Reckard’s arrangements, learned of Mr Basco’s intentions, it extended an open invitation to the service on its Facebook page.The response was unimaginable. The funeral home received about 10,000 messages and tributes, and more than 900 floral arrangements.Perches Funeral commented that the funeral was to be relocated to a larger venue "due to the overwhelming response of the community". They sat along the front of the chapel, below the stained-glass windows, on every table in the foyer, in the fellowship hall and on the staircase. They were sent from across America. New Hampshire. Oregon. Kentucky.Some came from Dayton, Ohio, the site of a mass shooting less than a day after the attack in El Paso.And crowds filled the centre to capacity. Hundreds stood in a line snaking around the church and on the blocks beyond.“This is amazing,” Mr Basco said as he walked down the centre aisle, surveying the unfamiliar faces.“You took a stranger off the street,” he added, and showed him love.Victor and Mary Perales from El Paso said they had come to support Mr Basco because they knew something about sudden loss: their oldest son died unexpectedly two years ago.Mr Perales wrote a letter to give to Mr Basco offering his condolences but also offering friendship.“We know how hard it was for us, and we were surrounded by family. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to go through this alone,” said Victor Perales, a retired truck driver. “I said we are going to this funeral to give him a hug and let him know we can be his family.”The moment Alicia Solomon Click heard about Mr Basco, she knew she was taking a road trip. The professional singer drove six hours from Sante Fe, New Mexico, and had stood for two hours in the visitation line.“I am here to tell Mr Basco for every crazy nut there are thousands of us that love him,” said Ms Solomon Click.For part of the service, a mariachi band played as Mr Basco and Ms Reckard’s relatives greeted and hugged guests.Mr Basco met some of his wife’s relatives for the first time. When a performer began singing “Amor Eterno”, or Love Eternal, much of the church sang along.“This was an assault on all of us,” Fred Valle said of the shooting. “You don’t have to know him to feel for him.”Before bishop Harrison Johnson delivered the eulogy, he looked out into the standing-room-only sanctuary and turned to Mr Basco. “Look at all the friends you have now,” the bishop said, to thunderous applause.He preached from Matthew 14:22. Faith will get you through anything, he assured the crowd, even something as evil as the Walmart massacre. He talked about a united El Paso that was not defined or divided by colour — a direct answer to a racist attack.“Whatever you do, do not stop walking through the storm,” he said. “Don’t stop because you will walk out of the storm.”Ms Reckard’s children and grandchildren also attended the service. Her oldest son, Dean, described her as loving and kind.“She would have been overwhelmed to see all the love El Paso showed her,” he said.Mr Basco and Ms Reckard met more than two decades ago at a bar in Nebraska. He was immediately smitten.“I took one look at her eyes, and it was over with,” Mr Basco said before the service Friday, tears welling.They settled in El Paso about nine years ago, although their hobby was visiting places by train.Ms Reckard, who was a grocery store cashier in Nebraska, had several health issues, including Parkinson’s disease.Mr Basco worked at a rodeo at one point but now runs a car wash business. He was outside fixing his truck when Ms Reckard left for Walmart that Saturday morning.“She was a lady,” he said, “and she was the love of my life.”Mr Basco said that when he wants to feel closest to his wife, he heads to the makeshift memorial and talks to her. Sometimes he returns at night and sleeps next to the cross, hardly visible among the piles of flowers and mementos.The New York Times
Related Stories
Latest News
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Millie Bobby Brown & Jake Bongiovi Celebrate “Three Years of Bliss” Ahead of Wedding
March 24, 2024
C4Ehegcq1-A
Kate Middleton & Prince William "Enormously Touched" by Public Support
March 24, 2024
s8fig-RCjFc
Gisele Bündchen Denies Cheating on Ex-Husband Tom Brady
March 23, 2024
_SpRMagA8BM
Eminem, 50 Cent & Snoop Dogg Present Dr. Dre with a Star on the Walk of Fame
March 19, 2024
4bNLs1hxVp8
Opening Remarks for the Variety Summit October 20th, 2023 Jay Penske
March 18, 2024
c6Z707iLq8E
'Everybody Was S----ing Their Pants': Nick Thune Jokes About Being Born in the '70s and Fatherhood
March 16, 2024
mm7Baf6o2d8
Gunna Says Tour Will Up Creativity in Rap, Endorses Flo Milli | TMZ
March 22, 2024
QfMU24fw-Qo
Reporter Taylor Lorenz Says Palace Botched Kate Cancer News Rollout | TMZ Live
March 22, 2024
o43ZucdiyEo
Riley Strain's Body Found After Going Missing in Nashville 2 Weeks Ago | TMZ NOW
March 22, 2024
1m1zM-4_Cs8
Kyle Richards hasn’t spoken to co-star Dorit Kemsley, denies sending her a ‘manipulative’ text
March 24, 2024
LqLZzDP1hm4
Jordan Emanuel on her connection to 'RHOSLC' star Meredith Marks, advice from Amanda Batula
March 24, 2024
5NPAwlOov1Y
Kate Middleton’s uncle Gary apologizes after slamming ‘fickle’ Meghan Markle in scathing interview
March 24, 2024
JWG9kitALZk
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
20
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
SK Brann W - Barcelona W
20
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Hacken W - PSG W
19
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
SL Benfica W - Lyon W
19
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Ajax W - Chelsea W
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Brighton - Manchester City
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
11
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Chelsea - Newcastle United
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Liverpool - Manchester City
10
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Real Madrid - Celta Vigo
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Aston Villa - Tottenham Hotspur
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Atalanta
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Fiorentina - Roma
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
AC Milan - Empoli
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.