Family, Students Remember Kerry Fitzsimons

A busload of Marist College students and family members gathered at St. Matthew Roman Catholic Church in Dix Hills Friday to say goodbye to Kerry Fitzsimons, the 21-year-old Commack resident Saturday.

Newsday reports approximately 100 students traveled from the Poughkeepsie school to Dix Hills to mourn the 21-year-old's death, including Rev. Richard LaMorte, chaplain at the college, who offered Fitzsimons' Funeral Mass on Friday.

Fitzsimons was one of when a fire tore through a home rented by six students from Marist College, authorities said. Eva Block, of Woodbridge, Conn., a Marist senior, and Kevin Johnson, of New Canaan, Conn.,  and a former Marist student, also were killed. They were both 21 years old.

A memorial for the victims at Marist College Wednesday had to be moved to the school gymnasium to accommodate 2,500 people, according to Newsday. College president Dennis J. Murray said the Marist community was "heartbroken."

"We have lost three of our best in the prime of their lives -- young adults full of promise, hope and love," Murray said in a statement.

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