In El Paso, Hundreds Show Up to Mourn a Woman They Didn’t Know – The New York Times

Bishop Harrison Johnson, a Perches funeral director, delivered the eulogy. Before he began, he looked out into the standing-room-only sanctuary and turned to Mr. Basco. “Look at all the friends you have now,” Bishop Johnson 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 color — a direct answer to a racist attack.

“Whatever you do, do not stop walking through the storm,” Bishop Johnson 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, 48, 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 on Friday, tears welling.